Mirrors
by WanderingDreamer4Ever
Summary: Inuyasha is realising his marriage with Kikyo might not work after all. After Kikyo left for a time off, she cuts off all contact with Inuyasha leaving him heartbroken. One day, he gets a mysterious note, threatening Kagome's life. Can he save her? Story's better.
1. Introduction

**Hey everyone! I'm not dead, I swear. But before continuing the story, I'm going to be fixing some details in these previous chapters so it flows more smoothly. **

**I will be continuing this FanFiction, so don't worry to those who were. **

**And the others who have been waiting for so long, I accept your waves of anger but I finally finished my other story, Saving Her. I explained that I will be putting this story off until I finish it and guess what? **

**I'm done!**

**So it'll be up to you if you re-read this story or not – you know – to refresh your memory after so long, but please, enjoy and hope you're patient while I edit!**

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**Introduction**

"INUYASHA!" A shriek of anger rang through the house, filling the 3 floors with a piercing echo.

A silver-haired hanyou, who was sitting on the living room couch sipping on his morning coffee, spitted the hot liquid all over his pants after hearing the woman's cry. His dog ears, settled on the top of his head, flattened over his skull, trembling, and his golden eyes squinted in pain.

"Yes, Kikyo? What's wrong?" Inuyasha answered back, making his voice loud enough for his wife to hear on the second floor. At the same time, he was trying to calm his racing heart down, bottling up his curses inside as well.

Her sarcastic response echoed back. "You come up _here _and tell me what's wrong."

Grumbling some curses, Inuyasha dabbed as much coffee as he could away from his pants using a Kleenex and grudgingly got of the couch. "Alright, alright, I'm coming."

But half-way up the stairs, his sensitive ears picked up something that caught him by surprise.

"The _nerve_! 'What's wrong' indeed!" Kikyo mumbled. "I should've just left when I had the chance. That idiot revived me, sure, but that doesn't mean I should stay. After all, it's all his fault that I've suffered so much. Even now! This marriage really isn't what I thought it would be. Maybe giving him over to Kagome would've been easier."

That did it. Other than making his blood boil in anger, it made his heart break hearing those regretful words come out of his wife's mouth.

Jumping up the last flight of stairs, Inuyasha sighed and stopped just outside their bedroom door where he had located Kikyo by her scent.

Even since a few months into their marriage, things have been getting tense and their arguments have been getting more recent. Sometimes, Kikiyo would come home drunk one day after spending some time in a nearby bar or she would cry waterfalls in their bedroom and travel through several mood swings. Sometimes she would even disappear into the night and come back only early the next morning when the sun wasn't up.

And most of these happen after every argument they'd have.

To be honest, Inuyasha was worried that she'd leave one day and never come back.

Only morning, Inuyasha sighed once more and entered the room to face another fight.

'_This is going to be one hell of a day.'_

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**I will continue to edit chapter by chapter, so it'll be like I'm re-writing and reposting. **

**I was also thinking of maybe deleting this story and repost it to start anew…**

**What do you think?**

**To new beginnings!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	2. 1 Leaving Him Behind, Letting Her Go

**Here's the next edited one!**

* * *

**Chapter 1**

Inuyasha entered the master bedroom to see Kikyo sitting on the edge of the bed with steam literally rising from the top of her head.

But before he could utter a single word, the half-demon took in his surroundings. Dumbfounded, he scanned the room in shock.

Their bedroom was a total disaster. The mattress was turned at an angel so that it wasn't settled in its place and half of the closet's contents were out on the floor including Inuyasha's red kimono that he wore in the past.

Turning to the window, the glass was cracked and the curtains were ripped to shreds. The shelves that held all their CDs and books were torn down and broken in half. The lamp was toppled over and the light that used to be on the ceiling was nothing but a single light bulb hanging on a thin, frayed wire.

"So?" Kikyo demanded. "What do you have to say for yourself?"

"Why the hell do you blame me for this?" Inuyasha argued back. "You don't really think _I'm _responsible for this, do you?"

"Then how do you explain this mess?"

"I don't know!"

"Well _someone _did this and it definitely wasn't me!"

"Well then don't go accusing that it was me! I don't know what the fuck happened here so don't go pointing fingers!"

The silence was thick as the tension didn't fade.

Inuyasha lowered his voice, but the lingering frustration caused it to quiver slightly. "Do you regret marrying me?" he asked.

He had looked away but he saw Kikyo's head snap up at him in surprise in the corner of his eye. He continued to wait for her answer.

Kikyo gave a little laugh. "Why the sudden change in topic?"

"Because I heard what you said!" Inuyasha blurted in anger. "I heard what you said just now…about you regretting it and how I make you suffer so much."

Inuyasha raised his head to meet Kikyo's defiant eyes. "I even heard you say that you would've rather Kagome married me instead."

That's when he saw Kikyo's rebellious stare waver. Pinching her lips together into a fine line, she sighed and looked to the ground.

"Three years, Kikyo. Three. Fucking. Years!" Inuyasha spat. "I thought you loved me even through death. Why do you think I resurrected you? I even left Kagome for you! I killed Naraku…for you! I completed the Shikon Jewel…for you!"

Inuyasha shut his eyes and his hands curled into a fist.

"I don't know what happened to you over these past few years but…it's not at all like the Kikyo I love. You're completely different now. What more do you want? Everything is as it should be so what more do you want? Is our love not enough?"

But when the smell of salt-water entered his nose, Inuyasha felt his body fill with guilt. He wrinkled his nose at the smell.

Kikyo sighed heavily, still not saying a single word. She let the silence drag on as she gathered her thoughts.

"I'm…I'm sorry, Inuyasha," she started, surprising her husband. "I…honestly don't know what's wrong with me."

Inuyasha decided to keep quiet, anxiously waiting for her conclusion.

"I guess…I guess I just need some time," Kikyo explained, still staring at her feet. She sniffed a couple of times while dabbing at her eyes.

"That's fine, I guess," responded Inuyasha. He was relieved that they were finally getting somewhere now. "Where do you want to go? I guess that way you can take time to relax and we won't have to worry about anything else and-"

"No, Inuyasha, I mean I need some time _alone_," interrupted Kikyo

Inuyasha's heart broke to pieces in disappointment. "Alone?" he echoed.

"Yes, alone. I need the time to think about my life and…our life."

Inuyasha battled within himself. It hurt to see how badly Kikyo wanted to go out alone but Inuyasha knew that even if he went along, things wouldn't be any different than it was now.

Inuyasha sighed, giving in.

"You'll let me go?" perked his wife.

"I'll…let you go as long as you stay in touch with me," he replied. Even though Inuyasha agreed, he ignored Kikyo's eye contact and his eyes stung upon hearing how excited she was in leaving him alone.

"Inuyasha…"

The hanyou turned to look and almost fell over after seeing how close Kikyo was to his face. Blushing, he stumbled on his words trying to form some kind of speech.

Kikyo came closer and whispered into his ear.

"Thank you."

Kikyo gave him a soft kiss on the lips before leaving the room with a smile on her face. She left Inuyasha frozen solid in shock.

Letting out a breath he had no idea he was holding, Inuyasha leaned against the wall for support. It's been months since he last saw her so genuinely happy.

Inuyasha gave a humourless chuckle. No matter how many times they argue and fought, Kikyo still made his heart stop.

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**Others will be up soon!**

**See you soon!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	3. 2 Death Note and a Quest Beginning

**Hope you keep reading!**

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**Chapter 2**

It was snowing outside. Christmas was drawing near as neighbours added decorations and lights to make their house as festive as possible for the holiday. It was suppose to be a day for celebrating and gift-giving, laughter and warmth. Days where couples would sit near the fireplace holding each other in their arms while children play at their feet. It was a time when Christmas trees are sold out within a week and one would hear grumbling and get headaches when shopping for presents. Not to mention all of the irritating Christmas songs playing over and over again on the radio.

It's been eight months since Kikiyo left.

No messages.

No texts.

No emails.

No phone calls.

Nothing

Christmas was just another day without Kikyo for Inuyasha. Since she left, Inuyasha would spend his days wondering around the house like a ghost. He would be an empty body walking aimlessly around places without really existing. He would spend his days sitting on the couch watching dust collect. Remembering once in a while, the days the house would be filled with laughter and warmth. Now, the house was silent as if it was mourning Kikyo's absence itself.

Inuyasha's appearance also worsened. His once golden eyes have turned and faded to a dark yellow, no longer having the light they once possessed; like the sun losing its brilliance. His silver hair had lost its shine and was becoming dull and tangled having being neglected for so long. Inuyasha's body posture sagged and he looked like he had aged a couple hundred years in the last eight months.

Inuyasha's friends would call or come by offering advice and support, but Inuyasha could not be persuaded. Over time, Inuyasha's heart became hard and bitter; annoyed by everything and everyone. He refused every invitation to go out, and instead, stayed inside to mope.

Yeah, he can be a real jerk at times.

Soon, after many declined invitations, his friends just gave up, fed up with his nonsense. They chose to ignore him and forget his existence overall.

But some stayed strong and stubborn. Only his closest friends, those that came from the Feudal Era, stayed strong.

Miroku, Sango, and Shippo continued to come by and stand by the door, constantly ringing the door bell until the very irritated Inuyasha answered. When Inuyasha was in a good mood, he would let them in without a second thought, wanting other voices echoing in the empty house rather than his own footsteps. But when he was in a really rotten mood, he would have arguments with them through the door until they gave up.

Today was one of his better days. Not quite the best, but somewhere around that level. It was about five in the evening and Inuyasha was on the couch once again drinking coffee. The brown liquid was tasteless but it gave the man something to do.

Once in a while he would walk…no, pace around the house, ears on high alert to listen for his friends footsteps on the gravel leading to his house. Inuyasha knew his friends' schedules by heart.

At five, Miroku would finish his shift as the security guard of a popular five-star hotel downtown, _Sacred Sutras_. He would drive to pick up his wife, Sango, at the martial arts center for kids called _Demon Slayers_ and wait until her class is over at 5:15 p.m. Shippo, who attends the _Shikon Middle School_, had already returned home.

He lives with Miroku and Sango since he has no parents to take care of him and wouldn't manage on his own.

Miroku and Sango would return home and eat dinner until 5:45 p.m. and after they clean up and change clothes, all three of them would drive up to Inuyasha's house, which is only two blocks away, and try for the millionth time to have Inuyasha get out of the house.

Inuyasha glanced at the clock.

5:20 p.m.

Impatient, but restraining himself from breaking down walls, Inuyasha poured himself another cup of coffee and slumped back down into the couch. Examining the living room in silence, he eyed every corner and every line like it was the most interesting thing to do while he listened to the slow ticks of the clock.

Then something caught his attention. In the corner of the room, settled on a bookshelf, were some photo albums Inuyasha and Kikyo had kept over the years. Long neglected, they were already covered in layers of dust.

Slightly curious, Inuyasha placed his mug aside and advanced. On each spine was a tape with the book's title written on it. Taking all of them down, Inuyasha flipped through them.

One of them was Kikyo's. When Inuyasha felt his heart regain its sharp, stinging pain, he wondered whether it was such a good idea. But instead of slamming the cover shut, the lonesome half-demon flipped through every page until the very end, feeling the melancholy settle in.

After coming over to permanently live in the Modern Era, Kikyo had taken the job as a high-school history teacher. She was even the founder of the school's archery club. Her album was filled with pictures of her years in school, with the kids, and with Inuyasha when they traveled. The smiles in her pictures made Inuyasha wonder over and over again what went wrong.

Sometimes Inuyasha wondered whether it was because Kikyo wanted children – that maybe it was because she wasn't able to have any that brought her down. It was probably why she decided to be a teacher too.

Pushing the thought aside, Inuyasha moved on.

The next album was older and sort of…girly; the reason being that it wasn't Kikyo's and it definitely wasn't his. It didn't belong to anyone in this era.

With the words 'Life in the Feudal Era' written in black marker on the front, Inuyasha ran his fingers across the handwritten font with a sad smile. His nose took in the familiar, but old, scent of the girl he once traveled with and for some reason, he felt his whole body sort of shiver and come alive when he thought of her.

But the good memories turned bad when he remembered his last moments with her. The ache in his heart increased and became almost suffocating.

'_Kagome…' _Inuyasha's mind whispered.

After the Shikon Jewel became complete and Naraku was finally destroyed, everyone was given a chance to make a wish.

Shippo's wish was to attend school over at the Modern Era, Miroku's was to get a job to support Sango and their marriage and Sango's was to start a new life with Miroku over in the Modern Era. Kagome's wish was to become a more powerful priestess, and Inuyasha's wish…

Inuyasha's wish was to bring Kikyo back to life, although it was against everyone's wishes.

After Kikyo was resurrected, she and Inuyasha married soon after, and when the time came for Miroku, Sango and Shippo to head on over to the Modern Era, Kikyo wanted to go too. Convincing Inuyasha to go with her, she said it was also because she wanted to live as an ordinary human and start a life anew.

Little did Inuyasha know, her true intention was to keep Inuyasha all to herself and leave Kagome behind.

So blinded by foolish happiness, he agreed with Kikyo without a second thought, leaving the heartbroken Kagome behind. Only after, when the Well was sealed at both sides, did Inuyasha feel the guilt. But like Kikyo said, it was too late now.

He could never see Kagome again.

Even though he lived a half-happy life, deep inside, part of his heart still beat for Kagome.

Back to the album, it was one Kagome had started quite some time ago in memory of her life in the Feudal Era, hence the title. Inuyasha even remembered how fascinated everyone was with it when Kagome first brought it over from her time. Inuyasha chuckled under his breath when he remembered how suspicious it was to him at first.

How did he come to have the photo album Kagome made? When Inuyasha and Kikyo came over and moved in to the house they currently lived in, Kagome's mother paid him a visit, giving this photo album to him in memory of Kagome. Even though Inuyasha wanted nothing more to do with her, regretfully in guilt, he accepted it with thanks.

Trying to breathe evenly, Inuyasha opened the photo album. The pictures seemed to be in chronological order and it started with the cultural festival at Kagome's school. Inuyasha was only able to make sense of everything that happened when he traveled to Kagome's time now since he's long adapted to the time period. It made Inuyasha think of how stupid he was back then.

At least now he knew what a play was and the fact that Hojo wasn't really wanting to fight him.

There was an absence of pictures from the time after that, since they were too busy being serious while hunting down Naraku, but the next section after that started with Miroku and Sango's wedding which took place shortly after the completion of the Jewel and no wishes had been made.

There was a picture of the bride and groom in traditional Japanese wedding garbs as they were joined by a local priest and there were even pictures of the small party Kagome planned for them right after.

Reaching the end of the album, Inuyasha sighed contently when remember all the good times they shared together.

But then he realised something was wrong.

Flipping back and forth frantically, Inuyasha's heart began to beat faster in panic. Only one thing lingered in his mind.

'_Where is Kagome?!'_

Inuyasha was certain that when he first looked through the album, Kagome's person was in their pictures. But now, it was like Kagome never existed.

It wasn't like the pictures themselves were missing, since Kagome herself had placed at least one picture in every plastic sleeve, but Kagome's face and body were no longer in the actual pictures. Like someone had just taken her out.

Then Inuyasha saw a picture of a Sakura tree in full bloom; its petals blowing around in the wind. The landscape photo wasn't anything out of the ordinary…except for the fact Kagome was originally _in _the picture.

Inuyasha remember this one picture specifically since he used to stare at it for hours for comfort.

It was a picture taken after Miroku and Sango's wedding. Kagome was still wearing her bridesmaid kimono and was taking a walk with Inuyasha by her side. The kimono was pink silk with golden Sakura flowers sewn into the dress. Kagome wasn't wearing any make-up since there was no need to cover up her natural beauty, but a Sakura flower was pinned in her hair, which was let down and flowing in the wind.

When they walked under the shade and shower of Sakura trees, Kagome insisted that Inuyasha took a picture of her even though he really had no idea how. In the end, after Kagome taught him that it's just the press of a button, he agreed.

Her back was against the tree and she held her hands behind her back, smiling a small and gentle smile. The wind was blowing some of the petals to the ground making the background of the picture magical and breath-taking; a perfect day for a wedding.

But what made the picture so breath-taking for Inuyasha, was Kagome. To him, she was like a shining beacon in the dark. She was his everlasting light. When Inuyasha thought he was going to burst with loneliness, he would find this specific picture and reminisce whatever happy memories he had left.

But the girl that had been his soul's saviour was gone, with nothing but a picture of a Sakura tree left behind.

By now, Inuyasha has searched through every single picture in every single album, but has continued to come up empty handed. Not one single picture of Kagome was to be found. Yelling in frustration, Inuyasha threw the last photo album he was tearing through to the ground.

"What happened to them?!" he yelled out-loud to no one in particular.

5:40 p.m.

In desperation, Inuyasha ran up the stairs leading to the master's bedroom, thinking of _that _as his last resort.

The room was still trashed from the past incident but he shoved the mess aside.

'_I'll clean it whenever I have time,' _he thought bitterly. It's not like he really cared since he slept on the couch now. And hey, no one else was complaining.

Inuyasha slowed his pace as he neared his destination. He walked his way to the closet and pushed all the clothes hanging there aside to reveal a hidden compartment at the back.

Inuyasha sighed with relief as he eyed the safe. "Good, it's still closed," he muttered under his breath after discovering that it was still locked and intact. He dialled the combination on the lock and opened the case…

…to find it _empty_…

Inuyasha froze in shock, unable to move. Unable to take it anymore, he collapsed on his knees.

'_No one knows about this. I haven't told anyone. Not even Kikiyo.'_

The compartment was built by Inuyasha himself one day when Kikiyo was out. Inuyasha had put all of his memories with Kagome in there and only to be taken out when he needed comfort. The golden locket he got from Kagome with their pictures in it from the time they fought against Kaguya, and lots of other pictures that he took out from Kagome's album in fear that Kikyo would discover them and destroy them.

Now, they were _all _gone.

Only one thing was left. A folded piece of paper.

Inuyasha stood back up and took it out. While opening, a photo dropped out, landing on the floor backside up. Inuyasha bent to blindly pick it up but his eyes were focused on the note.

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

_Mine to hold, mine to keep._

_I have placed this angel in an endless sleep._

_Right will be left,_

_Right will be wrong,_

_Opposites count, this quest will be long. _

_Right in this riddle, the beginning to each line,_

_Solves the location, then follow the signs._

**There's no time to waste Inuyasha, your quest has begun.**

**Awaken the angel.**

_~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~_

The letter sent shivers up his spine. Inuyasha's eyes wandered to the picture with a million questions in his head.

'_Who sent this?'_

'_What the hell is going on?'_

'_Why me?'_

'_How do I know what to do?'_

The picture just solved one of them.

'_What angel?'_

Inuyasha's legs buckled once more as his eyes settled on the picture of Kagome. Her body was chained and left dangling in a black abyss. Her face was pale and unconscious as well as tear-stained. Blood stained the tattered and torn outfit of her priestess garb which now hung loosely around her skinny frame. Inuyasha turned the photo around to reveal the back. And there is was in bold red letters…

**SAVE HER**

The deafening doorbell echoed around the whole house, making Inuyasha jump out of skin in fright.

6:00 p.m.

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**Hope it's better now!**

**Reviews if you can!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	4. 3 Fighting

**Chapter 3**

From outside the door, Miroku, Sango and Shippo were shivering from the chilly winter air, wanting _so badly_ to go into Inuyasha's house no matter how violent his mood was in. Rubbing their hands together for warmth, the three friends were standing on the front porch waiting miserably for the hanyou to open the door.

From inside, Inuyasha was literally _scrambling_ from the floor he was sitting on to the stairway, trying as fast as he could to answer the door. It didn't work out too well. His knees continued to malfunction no matter how hard he tried to keep himself standing and he just kept falling right back down.

Frustrated, he lunged himself to the stair railing, missing by a nose, and ended up falling face first down the stairs.

Back outside, all Miroku, Sango and Shippo heard were cursing, thumping and more cursing. The three exchanged glances and Shippo even tried peering through the windows. But he couldn't see anything due to the fact that the windows had been coated with dark dust.

"Inuyasha! Are you alright? What's going on in there?" Miroku yelled through the door.

All they heard in response was a groan and a muffled, "I'm alright…"

Later, the door opened to reveal a dusty half-demon rubbing the back of his head, wincing at the pain every time he touched a sore spot. He could feel bumps rising from his skull already.

"Before we ask what happened, would you be kind enough as to let us in? Excuse us," Miroku excused in a sweet tone. Before Inuyasha could open his mouth to say anything, the group barged straight into the house, trampling over Inuyasha and throwing their jackets and scarves in a pile on top of him.

Getting up, and throwing his friends clothes in the closet, Inuyasha shouted, "What the hell was that for?!" It caused the trio to laugh at the obvious sign of a footprint on the back of his head.

"Don't you know it's rude to not invite your friends in as soon as you open the door?" Shippo smirked between his giggles.

Inuyasha would usually retort back immediately but he didn't have the heart to right now and just glared at them half-heartedly.

When their laughter died down, Sango noticed that Inuyasha acting strange. "Inuyasha?"

"Inuyasha, is something wrong? You look…_really _pale. Did something happen?" Sango asked, looking worried for her friend.

Inuyasha bit his bottom lip. "Just…thinking. I'm fine."

"Inuyasha, don't lie to me. You do _not _look fine. What happened? Is it…Kikyo?" Sango tried to hide the strain in her voice as she spoke Kikyo's name.

Even after all these years, Sango hasn't forgiven Inuyasha for marrying Kikyo instead of Kagome. Sango had pleaded and reasoned with Inuyasha to let Kikyo rest with the dead instead of bringing her back to life again, but no matter how hard she tried, her cries reached deaf ears.

She doesn't exactly _hate _Kikiyo…Sango just doesn't like her.

Inuyasha looked away, uncomfortable. The house got quieter and quieter, replaced by awkward silence. Miroku sighed and sat down on the couch, leaning against the back and closing his eyes in thought. Shippo sat down beside Miroku and looked up at Inuyasha curiously.

"Inuyasha, we're waiting."

Bangs covering his eyes, Inuyasha said nothing. But he handed Sango a single, small piece of paper, walked into the living room and sat down in front of the fireplace on the carpet.

Miroku had opened his eyes and was waiting for Sango's reaction. With her eyes widening in pure fright and her sudden fade in colour, he had a feeling it wasn't good news. Sango silently passed it over to Shippo and Miroku without a second glance. Up until then, Miroku was confused.

"_Is this about Kikiyo?_" He had wondered. Only when he held the mysterious note and picture in his hands did he realise what was going on.

Miroku would have fallen off the couch hadn't it been for the arm support of the couch he was sitting on. The room remained silent and uncomfortable for a long time.

Inuyasha was the first to break the silence, although it didn't make much of a difference because his voice was barely a whisper.

"What am I suppose to do?" he whispered. Miroku looked at Sango with a saddened expression. None of them really knew. It has been a while since something like this has happened to them. You could say that they were a bit out of practice.

"So…I guess none of you know…fine," Inuyasha said in a forceful, bitter tone. He got up and stomped out of the living room. "If none of you will help me, I'll find Kagome myself!"

"Inuyasha wait!" Sango yelled after him.

Just as the door opened, Miroku sprang up and grabbed his right arm, pulling him back while Sango grabbed his left and helped Miroku keep Inuyasha inside.

"Inuyasha, this isn't going to get you anywhere! What good will come out of this?" yelled Miroku while trying to control the struggling hanyou.

"Let go of me!" Inuyasha continued to struggle against his friends' pull.

"Inuyasha, you idiot, think! We don't even know where Kagome is! Where can you possibly go right now? Calm down! Use your head!"

When they felt Inuyasha's muscles relax bit by bit, Miroku and Sango also loosened their grip. They weren't expecting Inuyasha to collapse into a sobbing heap.

"Why am I always useless when it matters most? I need to save her…I need to save her."

His best friends sat at on the base of the stairs and watched helplessly as the strong-willed, swearing half-demon they knew freed his emotions in tears. Miroku closed the door and sat back down beside Sango, putting his arms around his wife as she too, sobbed into his shoulder. Shippo could only sniffle, trying not to wail.

"We have to think this through before doing anything. It could put Kagome into more danger if we rush. The enemy could be watching us right now," Miroku wisely explained as he looked at Inuyasha. His crying had been reduced to just tears flowing down his face, but his ears were sharper than ever.

"We all want to find Kagome and save her Inuyasha, but we can't afford to do anything harsh."

Sango agreed. "So we have to work together. We're here to help you Inuyasha…and Kagome. We're a team but most importantly, your friends."

Inuyasha refused to talk for he fears that his voice might crack. So, he simply nodded.

Miroku pondered. "Have you noticed anything strange these past few days?"

"Kagome isn't in any of our pictures. She's completely gone from them," Inuyasha said. He got up and got some examples for his friends to see.

"That's so weird," exclaimed Shippo. "I can't find Kagome anywhere." He pointed to a gap between a group photo. "She should be here the last time I saw it but she's not there."

Miroku shook his head. "This is troubling. I've never seen something like this before. The pictures are all here but it's like Kagome's existence was wiped completely."

After some silence, Miroku opened his hand towards Inuyasha. "Let's try and figure out where Kagome is. Let's see that note again."

Inuyasha handed Miroku the note and while doing so, he caught a glimpse of Kagome's picture again.

Swallowing that lump in his throat, Inuyasha struggled to keep his heart in one piece.

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**Hope you like it!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	5. 4 Solving a Threat

**Let's keep going!**

**More editing ahead!**

* * *

**Chapter 4**

~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~

_Mine to hold, mine to keep._

_I have placed this angel to an endless sleep._

_Right will be left,_

_Right will be wrong,_

_Opposites count, this quest will be long. _

_Right in this riddle, the beginning to each line,_

_Solves the location, then follow the signs._

_There's no time to waste Inuyasha, your quest has begun._

_Awaken the angel._

_~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~:~_

The house had an aura dense enough to match a graveyard around it; deathly quiet after Miroku read the note. Miroku felt his throat tighten amidst reading the note. However, he was not sure why. Anger? Shock? Horror? The monk concluded all of the above.

"Who would do something like this?" Sango's face crumpled as tears forced their way out her eyes.

"I…don't really know." Miroku went over to his wife's side and embraced her, letting her cry into his chest. He felt the hot tears drip down his chest and shivered. Miroku continued to cuddle her, holding her head against his collarbone, constantly shushing her.

Miroku looked around. Shippo, to his surprise, was stubbornly biting his lip and refused to cry. But in his emerald eyes hung the drops of sadness, quivering and unstable, wanting secretly to fall off the edges of the boy's eyes.

Inuyasha could only be described as depressed. He was sitting in front of the fireplace, which was now dark with ash, and whispered solemnly, not caring if his friends heard or not.

'_I failed to protect her,' _Inuyasha thought. _'I know Kikyo was the first woman I even loved and the first person I swore to protect…but Kagome's also important to me. I swore to protect her too, didn't I? Kikyo isn't worth protecting right now the way she is. But Kagome…'_

Before the Jewel was completed, Inuyasha was thinking about settling down with Kagome once it was all over, but when Kikyo died, he felt as if he had failed his duty to protect her and that killed him. That's why he didn't hesitate to bring her back to life after the jewel was complete. Thinking back, it only made Inuyasha's head throb even worse with guilt seeing how stupid he was.

Miroku looked over at Inuyasha once more and sighed as he regarded the despairing half-demon. Yes, he felt sorry for Inuyasha, but at the same time, his heart hardened. If Inuyasha hadn't revived Kikyo, none of this would have happened. Everyone would have been happy! Kikyo would have rested in peace and Inuyasha would've moved on with his life with Kagome.

"Have you realised what you've done Inuyasha?" The hardness and bitterness was evident in the monk's voice as he spoke out. The whole room started.

Inuyasha looked up blankly and stared, a touch of shock in his expression.

"Done what?" he asked.

"You know _perfectly_ well _what_, Inuyasha," Miroku growled. Sango had to place her hand on Miroku's shoulder to restrain him from lunging at Inuyasha.

"Miroku…" Sango whispered. She used her other hand to grasp Miroku's hand. It was clutched into a fist and shivering greatly.

"You realise this is all your fault, right?" Miroku accused.

But instead of defending himself, Inuyasha became even more distraught. He looked at his feet.

After some tense silence, Inuyasha's head snapped back up, surprising everyone with the new defiance in his eyes. "You share some of the fault as well, you know? I'm not the only one that left her behind in the Feudal Era."

Miroku was taken aback. "But the main cause of her heartbreak is you, Inuyasha. You have the most influence on Kagome and you know that."

"Okay!" Inuyasha barked. "I get it! But stop pushing all the blame my way! It's still your fault that you left her too!"

"Would you two shut up already?!" Sango yelled, silencing the two arguing men. It pained her to see the two fighting so seriously. This never happened before.

The two turned to look at her as she glared back up. "This isn't the time to be pointing fingers and you know it," she said sternly. "Arguing amongst us isn't going to solve anything. We all share the blame for hurting Kagome but that just means we have to work together to find her. So would you two settle down already?"

Sango watched as the two relaxed their tense stances and sighed heavily.

"Sorry Inuyasha," Miroku apologised. "I'm just frustrated."

"Heh, you think I'm not?" laughed Inuyasha humourlessly.

"Umm…guys?" Shippo's voice interrupted them. "I think I know where Kagome is."

After exchanging excited and hopeful glances, the group rushed to where Shippo was sitting. The little boy placed the note out on the coffee table for everyone to see.

"Reading the note altogether was really confusing and I thought we had hit a dead end. But after looking at each line separately, I started to understand."

"Go on," Inuyasha said. His voice was coated with anticipation.

"Well, on the note, the lines '_Right in this riddle, the beginning to each line,_ _Solves the location, then follow the signs' _is our biggest clue. At first I thought it was the first _word _that started each line…"

"Mine, I, right, right, opposites, right, solves?" Miroku offered.

"Yep, but it didn't make sense. So I tried the first _letter_that started each line like one of those…one of those…umm…those…ugh what are those called…umm." Shippo thought hard for the word.

"Acronyms?" Miroku offered once again.

"Yeah, that!" Shippo grinned. "'_Mine to hold, mine to keep' _is M," Shippo started off.

"'_I have placed this angel to an endless sleep.' _is the letter I," Miroku continued.

"'_Right will be left' _is R."

"'_Right will be wrong'_ is again R."

"'_Opposites count, this quest will be long' _is O."

"'_Right in this riddle, the beginning to each line' _is R…again. Is this going anywhere because all I hear is R after R.?" Inuyasha complained.

"Patience Inuyasha, there's only one line left._ 'Solves the location, then follow the signs' _is S."

"Oh my god…" Sango whispered. "Shippo…are you sure?"

"I think so." Shippo looked around circle of people, silently wanting their opinions. "It's the only solution I can come up with. It can't be a coincidence, right?"

"True," Miroku stated. "What do you think Inuyasha?"

He nodded. "Well…we don't have much of a choice now. It's Kagome, so I don't really care where she is, I'm saving her. I owe her that for the rest of my life."

"So I guess it's settled then?"

"Yes."

Miroku sighed and nodded his head.

Inuyasha got up and walked upstairs. "I need to get a few things. Be right back."

Sango ran after him. "Inuyasha, you know that if you go…you might never come back here again, right?" Sango asked.

"I know, and I don't expect you to come with me," Inuyasha replied.

Sango shook her head. "Wherever you go, we'll follow. Especially if it's for someone we all care about." The look in Sango's eyes gave Inuyasha the feeling that there's no way in convincing her not to go.

With a shrug, Inuyasha turned away and hiked upstairs. "It's your life."

"You know," Shippo appeared beside Sango, "I might be wrong."

"Well Shippo, it's the closet thing to an answer we've got. I guess we have no choice but to try now."

"Well…okay then." If we're going, can you sign my school's extended absence form?" Shippo asked.

Sango laughed. "I don't think you'll be able to give it in anyway."

"But…fine, alright," Shippo mumbled. "I just don't want to get in trouble."

Sango ruffled his orange hair. "Don't worry Mr. Perfect Student. I'll explain if I have to."

Shippo grinned back.

Sango couldn't help but laugh again. It felt good to finally laugh, but it felt really strange at the same time. Her heart was filled with worry for Kagome.

"Hang on Kagome," Sango mumbled.

Sango stared at the note…their very map to their destination…the beginning of another journey.

The word will no longer be the same to her ever again.

The haunted word?

**M.I.R.R.O.R.S**

* * *

**Hope you like it!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	6. 5 Discoveries and Mysteries

**Chapter 5 **

Inuyasha felt like he was carrying the world on his shoulders, a ball and chain on both his feet, a brace tightening on his heart making every step harder to breathe. Although, at the same time, a flame ignited in his eyes, spreading throughout his body, licking away the numbness of shock and leaving behind a trail of determination and anger. Nothing was going to stop him from saving Kagome, absolutely nothing. He will do whatever it takes to get Kagome back safe and sound.

Inuyasha was certain. He would sacrifice everything to save Kagome…even his marriage with Kikyo. It's not like she'll care with her absence.

'_I haven't heard from Kikyo in months,' _Inuyasha thought to conclude his resolve. Although he did worry about where she was.

Suddenly, it hit him. The idea slammed into him like he ran into a brick wall after running full speed. It almost knocked the breath out of his lungs, leaving him gasping for air.

'_It couldn't be could it?_' Inuyasha thought frantically.

Kikyo should have nothing to do with this…right? The mere thought of Kikyo sabotaging his life once again made his blood boil under his skin, making his skin too high of a temperature to touch. It made his head swirl under the heat building up in his head.

He jumped to conclusions. "If that woman did this to Kagome, our relationship is _so_over."

Inuyasha would have continued his little rant if it wasn't for Miroku's rushing. "Inuyasha, are you ready yet?"

'_Damn, why does that monk always have to interrupt at the most inconvenient time?' _Inuyasha thought.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm coming, keep your pants on," Inuyasha called down the stairs.

His three friends had left before to gather some things from their own house and agreed to meet back at his house when they were done. Guess that means they're done.

Inuyasha said he was getting some things as well but it really wasn't much. When he entered his room a while earlier, the first thing he did was get dressed in his red hinesumi, ignoring the mess his bedroom was still in.

'_Definitely not going to miss this place,' _he thought.

Then he made his way along the corridors of his house and stopped at the window at the end of the hall. Looking up, he reached to pull on a medal handle, released it and took a step back to let the built in stairs unfold to the floor and so he could avoid an injury on the head.

"Inuyasha, are you done yet?!"

"Give me a few more minutes, damn it!"

Inuyasha climbed his way up the ladder. He coughed as his head entered the dusty attic. His eyes squinted in the darkness, trying get adjusted to the aura of the long forgotten room. His nose wrinkled at the musty smell of agedness coating the area like a thick blanket.

Soon, as his eyes adjusted, he began moving around piles and piles of unopened boxes to find what he was looking for. Soon, he reached his destination. As he knelt down, he stared at the box for some time, wondering whether he should open it or not.

'_**You need it, Inuyasha. Open the box.'**_

A voice sent shivers down his spine. He tore off the seal of tape and opened the flaps of the box. Taking the familiar object from its long held prison, he took a long look at his weapon.

**Tessaiga **

Its hilt was secured with rope and the sheath was covered with several sutras. He felt no heartbeat.

Securing it to his obi, he sighed with a heavy heart. It had been too long…since the accident. He didn't know why he was taking the useless thing with him, but something kept him from putting it back.

As he was climbing down the stairs, something glinted out of the corner of his eye. His head turned in wonder.

It was a full-body length mirror, with strange engravings on its cold, unforgiving, silver frame. It glowed with an unearthly light; giving Inuyasha the creeps and making his stomach sink to the bottom of his feet. Keeping the attic door unlocked, he climbed back down the built-in stairs and met his friends at the bottom. They, on the other hand, had climbed up to find him.

"Inuyasha, what took you so long?" Miroku asked. Wanting to pester on, he stopped when he noticed Tessaiga attached to Inuyasha's waist.

Miroku was wearing his old monk garbs from the Feudal Era and he was also holding his staff. Sango was also in her demon slayer outfit and even managed to carry Hiraikotsu along. Shippo didn't change, but Inuyasha knew that he was carrying all his fox toys within his clothes.

But Shippo didn't change out of his human form.

Miroku's face immediately became serious when he eyed Tessaiga, remembering what had happened between the hanyou and his weapon three years ago. It was a tragedy for everyone.

Silence took over.

"What's the point on using it if it doesn't work?"

His eyes avoided their stares. "It just feels right if I have it by my side."

Silence.

"Alright then, let's get going," Miroku sighed.

"But where do we start?" Shippo asked.

"The attic," Inuyasha said. They all turned to look at him.

Inuyasha gave everyone a plain face; his calmness was alien. The only emotions he had were radiating from his eyes. Sadness and worry was all that could be seen from the beautiful golden pools. Although now, the colour of his eyes were more of a dark, looming shadow. His face was sleepless and overcome with despair.

"The attic?" echoed Sango.

Nodding, Inuyasha turned towards the stairs and motioned for everyone else to follow. Together, they followed their friend up the stairs and into the attic, coughing as they began to breathe dust into their lungs. They turned to face Inuyasha and just as they were about to ask what they were doing there. They stared in awe as Inuyasha brought out the silver mirror, still glowing with its aura.

"I think whoever sent me the note and kidnapped Kagome, brought this mirror as well." Inuyasha stated solemnly.

Suddenly, Sango gasped when Inuyasha let the mirror rest against a high stack of heavy boxes.

"What's wrong, Sango?" Miroku questioned.

She took a step back. "There's…no reflection."

Each taking their turn to step in front of the mirror, nobody saw their reflection, or anybody else's. The only thing before them was just a swirl of darkness; a black abyss.

"Yeah, I don't know what it is but I found it when I came up here. I've never seen it before," Inuyasha said.

"This is a transporting mirror," Miroku said right after.

"A what?"

"A transporting mirror. Transporting mirrors always have a partner; some rare ones have more than one. If an object or person or being steps into one of the transporting mirror, they will come out in the other, wherever it is placed," Miroku explained.

"So anyone who comes across the mirror can just move it and easily sabotage our mission?" Inuyasha glared at the mirror.

Miroku shrugged. "I suppose. But I think this was placed here for a reason. The person who sent this note probably sent this mirror as well. Whoever it is…they probably have everything planned out for us. This might even lead us straight to them."

"Then what are we wasting time _here_ for? Let's go already," said Inuyasha as he advanced towards the mirror. The hanyou himself expected to crash straight into glass, but instead, felt nothing but a cold chill spread through his body as he passed the barrier of the frame. It was like he was slowly sinking into ice cold water, however he wasn't getting wet. His clothes were perfectly in tact.

Looking back, where he had left half of his body just in case, he beckoned for the rest to follow.

Miroku, Sango and Shippo looked back, as if saying a silent good-bye to the world they might not see again, and entered the void of darkness.

Miroku shivered as he felt himself being swallowed up by an unknown power. They had no idea what they were getting themselves into. This power was too foreign, as if it never existed until moments ago. It was never written of, spoken of, and let alone seen or witnessed.

No turning back now, they continued to drift down the darkness, waiting anxiously for the other side.

~:~:~:~

Somewhere in another dimension, a voice echoed around the endless void of darkness. Sneering at the preview playing.

Yes, the master was watching every move they made…without them even knowing it. They won't know until later on…much later, what they were getting themselves into.

Kagome cracked open her eyes painfully, a dull light shining only from her kidnapper. It stung her eyes nonetheless.

"He won't fall for your trap. I know he won't. You can't win this." she weakly stated. Her voice shook and body too weak to maintain a strong conflict.

The voice laughed.

"That's what you think. I rule this world, this is _my_world. I control what happens. Even if something _somehow_ goes wrong, I'll just change it again so it goes according to plan."

Walking over, the image took Kagome's chin and lifted it to meet face to face.

Kagome whispered painfully, "What are you going to do with me?"

"Oh ho, _you_, my dear Kagome, are bait. But once Inuyasha is destroyed and dead, we will rule all of time and anything that comes our way!" Cackling was heard once more.

"I will…_never_ work with you. I'd rather die with _him_ than work with you any day." With that, Kagome spit in its face, resulting in the person rearing away in disgust.

Wiping their face with their sleeve, they slapped Kagome with great intensity.

Whimpering in pain, Kagome could taste blood in her mouth. Her head was then pulled up by her hair. She gritted her teeth together to try to ignore the pain shooting through her head.

"Listen closely Kagome," the voice hissed. "You and I are the same."

"No."

"I know your every move, so there's no use ignoring the fact that we are one."

"Never."

"We are the same. We are one."

"No. You and I are _nothing_ alike."

"Oh you just keep thinking that Kagome, but soon, it'll be too late."

Laughing…

Going in and out of conscious, Kagome wanted to whisper one final word. One final name. It'll be the only thing she'll say with even her last breath.

But she couldn't. She can't. She swore not to.

It hurt…too much.

It hurt…so badly.

She had always taken comfort in repeating the name over and over. She had always screamed it out into the open air when she was in trouble, knowing she'd be in safe arms soon…with only one name.

But _he _was gone. _He _had left.

Giving up, Kagome insisted not to say _his _name. Instead, before passing out completely, the only thing she heard from herself…were tears.


	7. 6 Thing Aren't Always What They Seem

**Hope you like the edits!**

* * *

**Chapter 6**

The second mirror shined, announcing the entrance of transporters. As Inuyasha stepped out from the mirror, he was immediately bathed in warm sunshine. But being used to the dark atmosphere of his home, Inuyasha had to shield his eyes with his arm.

Looking around, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. To be honest, the place was beautiful. It appeared that he was on a hill, lush with blowing grass and dotted with an assortment of different colour flowers. The forest nearby was full of green trees and hedges and the sky was crystal clear.

But looking around, Inuyasha had no idea where they were or what he was going to do. Then he heard the shimmer of his friends entering behind him.

"Wow…The place is..." Sango started.

"Beautiful…" Shippo finished.

Another shimmer was heard. "So I guess the mirror Inuyasha found had only one sibling." Miroku began looking around.

"What do you mean?" Sango asked.

"If a transporting mirror has more than one sibling, while transporting, the other mirrors would be shown and the person would have a choice where to go. Although, they would have no idea what would be on the other side," explained Miroku.

"But why would we be lead to this place? I mean, this place seems harmless." Shippo strolled around, picking flowers.

"Shippo's right. There's no one here but us," declared Miroku.

"Feh, that's what you think." Inuyasha pointed at the horizon above the trees. "Look, there's smoke, and smoke means that there's a village. And a village means people. C'mon, let's go already."

Inuyasha slapped Shippo good-heartedly on his back to give him a little push on ahead.

Sango seemed down as she looked around so it made Miroku curious.

"Sango, is something wrong?"

Startled, Sango looked at her husband. "No," she sighed. "It's just…this place reminds me of the time when I was little and I would come and pick flowers with Kirara."

Miroku smiled sadly. Sango had left Kirara with Kagome because she thought Kagome would be lonely without any of them around. It was hard for Sango to say good-bye to her partner and long-time friend, but no matter how much Kirara tried to follow Sango back to the modern era, Sango would push Kirara back to Kagome, usually with tears in her eyes.

But where was she now? With Kagome kidnapped…was she safe?

"Hey, are you guys coming or what?" Inuyasha's voice could be heard faintly from the forest.

"Let's go Sango." Miroku held out his hand.

Smiling, Sango nodded and placed her hand in his. The demon slayer sighed as she felt the warmth of her husband's hand flow into hers. It wasn't as bad since she always had him by her side.

Together, the group walked towards the center of the forest in the direction of the column of smoke Inuyasha spotted earlier. Soon, they reached the village, but it was unlike any village they've seen before.

It was empty.

Animals roamed wildly in the fields and nobody was on the streets. The place was quiet other than the occasional sounds the animals would make and not a single living soul was evident.

As they walked into the center of the village, they called out greetings to see if anyone was around.

No reply.

Suddenly, Shippo pointed further down the road. "Guys, look over there!"

Walking towards them on the same road was a girl about 10 years old. It looked like she was coming home from the work fields for she carried a basket of crops.

"Hey, you!" Inuyasha called out.

The girl raised her head, but instead of running away or freaking out like everyone expected, she placed her basket down by the side of a house and walked towards them.

Walking closer, everyone could see the girl more clearly.

Her eyes were violet and her hair was dark azure blue. Her yellow dress hung on her shoulders and appeared too big for her skinny frame. She wore no shoes and on her head were two, small, horns that peaked out from under her hair.

"Hello," she greeted with a smile. Not even a question of who they were, her voice was sweet and timid. But something in her eyes showed that things aren't always what it seemed.

"Hi, we're looking for our friend. She was kidnapped. Whoever did, gave us a mirror that sent us here. Do you know who might be responsible?" Sango asked the girl.

She closed her eyes as if thinking. Opening them, she regained her smile and gestured to a small hut. "We'll talk more in there."

Sitting down, the girl placed some firewood into the pit at the center of the room, and as everyone except Inuyasha sat down, who leaned against the wall instead, she tried lighting it with a match.

"My name is Kiyoko Sigitsu. You said something about looking for a friend?" she asked while still trying to strike a match.

"Yes, her name is Kagome and she's a priestess that was kidnapped. We believe she's been taken to this realm but we don't know where she is exactly." Miroku explained. "Would you happen to know?"

Kiyoko finally lighted the fire and sat back down on her knees, relaxing onto her feet. Staring into the fire she said, "Yes, I know…_E__veryone_ here knows."

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he finally opened his eyes to stare at the girl seriously. Looking at the girl, he sensed an uneasy presence about her and he didn't like it.

"What do you mean _everyone_ knows?" Sango asked suspiciously.

"Our master…The person who took your friend is our master." Kiyoko gave a little chuckle. "So it's true. Guess you all came after all."

Sango watched as the girl's hands turned to fists. She noticed how they were scratched, scarred and rough; as if she's been working labour for ages.

There was an awkward and tense silence.

Inuyasha couldn't help but growl suspiciously at the girl.

"Could you explain?" Miroku asked while narrowing his eyes.

Kiyoko looked at Miroku. As if in a trance she spoke. "Everyone here knows who you all are. It was foretold to us by our master."

"I don't-"

"You're the monk, Miroku," interrupted Kiyoko. "You used to have the curse Wind Tunnel on your hand before killing the demon, Naraku. You love money and women until you settled down with the demon slayer, Sango, in the modern era."

Speechless, Miroku couldn't find anything to say.

But Kiyoko didn't wait for an answer and turned to look at Sango. "You're name is Sango, the demon slayer. You lost your brother to Naraku and lost the rest your family to your brother. You were tricked into believing that a half-demon was responsible, but realised that you were wrong. Then, you finally found your brother and he remembered who you were as you killed Naraku. Later you married Miroku and moved with him into the modern era."

"How do you…"

Shippo was next. "You lost your father when you were young and tried to steal the jewel shards of the Shikon Jewel from the priestess and hanyou to try to avenge him. Not long after, you began travelling with them."

Inuyasha blurted out angrily, "Who _are _you?! How do you know all of this about us?!"

Kiyoko turned to Inuyasha with the same, almost emotionless, stare.

"Inuyasha, a half demon, half human being. Your behavior leads you to troublesome situations. Long ago, you fell in love with a human priestess named Kikyo. You wanted the jewel to become a full-demon but changed your mind when you decided you wanted to live with Kikyo as a human. But being deceived by Naraku, Kikyo pinned you to the sacred tree and died from the wounds you inflicted on her. Her body was burned along with the Shikon Jewel. You were later discovered by Kagome, a girl from the modern era with the jewel in her body. Because she shattered the jewel while trying to get it back, you travelled together to reclaim them. Kikyo was later resurrected with a part of Kagome's soul but died much later while saving Sango's brother. When the jewel was full, you foolishly wished for Kikyo to be alive again and left Kagome in the feudal era as you married Kikyo in the modern era."

Inuyasha froze as he listened to his past being repeated to him after all these years. He had to admit, it didn't sound so good as good as he thought.

He repeated his question in an awed whisper. "Who_ are_ you?"

"My name is Kiyoko Sigitsu and I am the messenger of my master, the one who has kidnapped your friend. I'm here to begin your quest and send you to the start of your journey."

With that, a bright, white light shone from inside the girl, blinding everyone's eyes. Unable to escape from the inescapable, the light enveloped the group. Their surroundings disappeared as they were swallowed up.

When Inuyasha opened his eyes, he was alone and surrounded by darkness.

"Miroku?! Sango?! Shippo?!" Inuyasha yelled out into the open space. Something didn't feel right. Nothing had felt right since he had encountered the demon girl.

Something glinted out of the corner of his eye. Turning, Inuyasha realised that it was an unearthly light coming from three mirrors, all different.

The one on the left had a frame made up of wood with curving ivy snaked over it. The one in the middle was made of what looked like water, swirling around in various directions. The third was made of metal; cold, and cruel. Whatever was beyond it wasn't good.

Kiyoko appeared above him.

"Where have you taken me?! Where's everyone else?! What did you do to them?!" Inuyasha yelled out, demanding answers.

The girl smiled her sweet smile once again. "Don't worry, they're fine. At least for now. But forget about them. Now it's your time to pick your path."

Inuyasha clenched his teeth together. His hands became fists as he fought back an insult.

Kiyoko pointed to the mirrors. "Choose…" Then, she vanished.

Facing the mirrors, it didn't take long for Inuyasha to pick what mirror to go through. He walked towards the third mirror.

"Kagome, I _will_ find you. Just hang on until I get there."

With a flash of light, the mirror swallowed Inuyasha into its darkness and he could no longer be seen in this dimension.

* * *

**Don't be afraid to tell me what you think. I'm trying to make everything a little more natural instead of cheesy, over-dramatic lines.**

**Well?**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	8. 7 Choices

**Here's more editing!**

* * *

**Chapter 7**

Sango found herself swallowed in more darkness as soon as she opened her eyes. She was lying on her back which was nothing but more darkness. She sat up and tried rubbing the soreness out of her eyes after the blinding white light that consumed her and her friends.

Speaking of friends…where was everybody else?

Sango propped herself up with her elbows and took a look around…nothing.

Sango began to worry. _'Where is everybody? What happened to us?'_

She stood up and took a few hesitant steps around the area, but it seemed to be leading nowhere.

Suddenly, a blast of cold wind collided with her, forcing the woman to shield her face with her arms and trying desperately to plant her feet into the so-called ground.

When the wind stopped and Sango re-opened her eyes, she found three mirrors in front of her. The one to the left was made of wood covered in ivy, the middle was made of swirling water, and the last one to the right was made of silver metal.

In a small flash of light, Kiyoko appeared above her.

"Hello Sango, you seem well." Kiyoko smirked at her little joke. Sango, however, did not find it funny.

"Tell me where Miroku and the others are!" Sango reached back to grab her Hiraikotsu, holding it securely in her hand.

Kiyoko smiled once again, sort of giving her head a little shake. "So impatient. But no need to worry. Your friends are safe." Kiyoko eyed Hiraikotsu. "And you should be saving your energy. Your weapon won't do anything to me and my master wants you to save your strength for your battle."

"My…my battle?" Sango continued her hold on Hiraikotsu. _'That doesn't sound good…'_

Kiyoko giggled. "You will find out about it soon. But first, you must choose…" With that, Kiyoko evaporated.

"Choose?" Sango mumbled as she continued to stare at the spot Kiyoko was just at. She then shifted her gaze to the three mirrors.

Sango knitted her eyebrows in worry. _'What should I do?'_

With no other choice, Sango decided to go through the wood-ivy framed mirror, hoping for the best and that nothing bad had happened to her friends and her husband.

~:~:~:~

"Ow…" Miroku groaned as he slowly sat up. He looked around but was met with nothing but darkness. At first he wondered if he was blind, but he knew he wasn't when he saw the 10 year old girl sitting in front of him, looking amused.

"You've sure slept soundly," she giggled.

Except from the horns and hair, she would appear like any other village girl Inuyasha's gang had met. But her hands and feet were worn and scratched and her face was slightly dirty from field work. Her eyes had dark circles and her smile sometimes seemed forced.

Miroku almost felt sorry for her, despite not knowing who she really was, but he thought to himself that he should know better. He knew very well that despite her childish looks, she poised as a threat to him and everyone else. He could sense a strong aura coming from her and it wasn't good.

"Where is everyone? Why am I here alone?" Miroku spoke, his voice hoarse from the amount of time he was unconscious.

Kiyoko's smile faded and she stared with some annoyance at the monk. "Ugh, does everyone I meet with companions have to ask that? You know, it gets annoying year after year." She waved her hand around dismissing the fact and her annoyance. "I guess humans will be humans…caring so much about each other."

Kiyoko suddenly looked depressed as her eyes got distance. But in a second, it disappeared in a flash as if she finally remembered why any of them were there.

"Now, back to business," said the girl.

Kiyoko floated back into the air above the monk and with a wave of her hand, three additional auras appeared in the area. Looking in front of him, Miroku saw three mirrors.

"Choose one, and it'll give you a path to follow. But as to which one you pick, isn't up to me. Good luck!" Kiyoko disappeared with another tinkle-like laugh.

Miroku sighed with relief that nothing happened to him yet, but his thoughts were filled with concern of his wife and friends.

He thought of his dear wife. _'Please let nothing bad happen to her…'_

Advancing, Miroku stood there for a moment while studying each mirror's aura. The wooden one was wild and untamed, but an uneven feeling was felt, as if something mysterious was lurking in the shadows. The one that looked like water was the most calming, with light coming from the other side. The third one, made of cold metal, was the most frightening aura of all. Miroku even backed out a few steps while feeling it. It was very, very tainted. The other side was no doubt bad news. He wondered if any one of his friends would go there.

In the end, he decided to walk into the middle mirror, the safest one.

As he disappeared through the non-existing surface of the mirror with a flash of light and a shimmer, Kiyoko appeared again.

She sighed and shrugged. "It's too bad you made the worst choice, Miroku. Have you already forgotten the warning my master sent to you? You and your friends were lucky that my master even bothered to warn you."

Kiyoko wondered why humans could be so brainless sometimes. _'Right will be left, Right will be wrong, __**Opposites count**__, this quest will be long.' _Kiyoko chanted out loud. "Be careful monk…things aren't always what they seem. Taking the "easiest" path doesn't necessarily mean it's the best choice…it's the worst one."

With that, she was gone.

~:~:~:~

"Inuyasha? Miroku? Sango? Are you guys here? Where are you?" Shippo had been wandering for a while now, since he was the last to be visited.

Shippo sighed. "I'm getting no where, I can't even see anything." With another sigh, Shippo plopped down onto the so-called floor.

"Aw…don't look so down Shippo." A sweet voice could be heard in the darkness.

Shippo jumped back up. "Huh, what? Who's there?"

Hearing a giggle, Shippo watched as Kiyoko materialized in front of him. But before he could say anything, she said, "You know, you don't have to look like a human anymore."

Shippo's mouth opened in shock. "But…how did you…how do you know that this isn't my true form?"

"Didn't you forget? I know everything about you guys."

"Right…"

Shippo, after some thought, decided that it was time to be a little fox demon again. With a loud pop and some smoke, Shippo was small again; back to his true form.

He sighed in relief. "Ah…it's not easy keeping my tail locked up for so long."

You see, when Shippo moved to the modern era with everybody else, he realised that he couldn't show himself in public with a tail due to people staring and pointing, and once, even the misfortune of a dog catcher and some intrigued scientists.

So instead, he changed his appearance so that he looked like an average middle school boy around the age and height of a 10 year old. Other than his bright orange hair and green eyes, he looked like any other boy in the city. He was even considered one of the best-looking boys around.

On his first day of school and when introductions were made, Shippo had all the girls swooning over him and it didn't take long for his existence to make its way out of class and around the school.

Now, he looked like a little boy again with his puffy tail released. Since he was a demon, he hadn't aged very much, despite it being three years since his leave from the Feudal Era.

"Aw! You're so cute!" Kiyoko walked up to him. She winked at him. "I like you better in this form."

This made Shippo blush. "Oh, gee, thanks! Um…you're not so bad…yourself. You're pretty…cute too." Thinking it polite, Shippo said what he actually thought.

And it was true. Kiyoko was a very pretty girl and she was really cute. In fact, she was adorable considering her petite body and all.

However, Kiyoko, who never heard someone give her a compliment before, did not expect Shippo to return the kind gesture. Usually, she would give compliments in sarcasm or to tease other visitors, but they would always suspect she was up to something and retort back meanly.

She felt her face grow hotter as a blush settled nicely on her cheeks, making her look even cuter. Shippo stared in amazement at how pretty she was.

Kiyoko was speechless. She didn't know why she was suddenly feeling this way but she felt nervous all of a suddenly.

"Oh…um…gee…thanks…" It was all she could sputter out.

The two shared a moment in silence as they stared at the ground, not knowing what to say.

Kiyoko broke the silence, her voice quivering a little. "Y-you k-know…that's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." She looked down at her feet, her hands fidgeting behind her back as she rocked back and forth on her feet.

"Really? I'm surprised no one has ever mentioned it to you before," replied Shippo, adding a shy smile at the end of his sentence.

Flustered, Kiyoko stared at him. _'What's with his? He's so different from anybody I've ever met. He hasn't even asked about his friends yet.'_

The two chatted for a while, about the littlest things. The two sat together and Shippo had asked her what her life was like in the village living alone and such. Then Kiyoko asked Shippo what it was like going to school and having friends to hang out with.

Shippo thought that Kiyoko was just like any other girl, wanting to live normally. But unfortunately, she's trapped under the slavery of her master.

But most of all…she was lonely. Shippo learned that Kiyoko was created by her master and has been a servant ever since - according to Kiyoko – 300 years ago. She was responsible for destroying anyone that entered these realms but hasn't encountered anyone for the last hundred years.

She told Shippo about the way she used to be; how in love with death she used to be. But encountering so many wandering humans with loved ones or friends made Kiyoko think about her own life. She's seen protective husbands, frightened parents, crying children, revengeful friends and all of this made Kiyoko lonelier than ever.

If she died, no one would care. Not even a friend in the world, Kiyoko lived her life alone.

"I used to love seeing people scream in pain and feeling blood on my hands…but I guess I grew tired of it all," she said.

But then, Shippo said something that Kiyoko will never forget.

"I don't understand Kiyoko, how someone as nice as you has to do such horrible things to people. I don't believe that you're a bad person. I really don't. I believe that you can do great things that are good…not bad." Shippo said with a smile.

Kiyoko felt her heart burst. It kept her thinking in silence. _'Even with all the bad things I'm putting them through…he still thinks I'm nice?! Why…'_ It almost made her feel like crying, but she refrained herself and kept her composure.

"So…is there a reason why you're here…or are you here just to give me company?" Shippo asked suddenly. They both laughed timidly. But Kiyoko remembered with a jolt why she _really_ wasthere for.

She sighed in sadness as she got up and dusted herself, for she didn't want to put little Shippo through what the others had to do, but he must be treated like everyone else.

Because he made the same mistake…as everyone else.

With another sigh, she floated back up to her place in the air and with a wave of her hand, the three mirrors appeared.

Shippo got up and shifted his body to look at his choices, and then he looked at Kiyoko to wait for her to explain.

She looked…almost guilty and sad. She _really _didn't want to put him through this.

Glumly she explained, "You must choose your path, to which way you decide to go, I cannot change or choose, nor is the road you follow. Choose one."

Shippo looked at the mirrors, then back at Kiyoko, then back at the mirrors. Looking as if thinking hard, he looked up at Kiyoko and did what no other living being has ever done to her before.

"Which one do you want me to go through?" Shippo asked innocently.

"What…?" Kiyoko had a look of bewilderment on her face as she stared at Shippo, mouth wide open.

"Can you pick for me? Which one do you want me to go through?" Shippo looked at her with complete innocence in his eyes.

Kiyoko, shutting her mouth, thought that it was a trick, that if she said the hardest way to go, then he would go the complete opposite choice. But in this world, the hardest is the easiest and the easiest is the hardest, so Kiyoko would end up saying the "hardest" way, which is actually the easiest way, then Shippo would have to go the opposite way which may seem the "easiest" but is actually the path of doom.

Kiyoko smirked, thinking she discovered the trickery of his words. Although Kiyoko didn't want anything to happen to Shippo, she had to obey her master, but could not choose for them.

But now, Shippo was giving her the choice, making Kiyoko more confused than ever!

Finally she decided. "I would go through the mirror made of water." she said as she pointed to the mirror Miroku had taken.

"Oh, okay." Shippo said with a smile, and walked towards the center mirror.

'_Wait, __**WHAT?!**__' _He actually listened to her suggestion? Kiyoko immediately back-tracked herself.

"NO!" She blurted out making Shippo jump and turned hesitantly towards her.

Kiyoko stuttered in embarrassment. "I mean…no…um…err…I changed my mind…go through the third mirror." She avoided Shippo's eye contact but pointed to the metal mirror.

"Umm…okay…if you say so." Shippo paused in front of the reflection-less mirror. It felt…strange. The aura of the mirror, he thought, was very mixed. The closer he was to it, the softer the aura felt compared to the tough, cold, hard, unforgiving feeling further away.

'_I guess things aren't always what they seem…'_

He could feel Kiyoko's eyes burning a hole into his head. He smiled inwardly.

Before he stepped in, Kiyoko blurted another thing out. "Be careful!" She had reached out her arm, but retracted it immediately after thinking what an idiot he must think she is.

Pausing for some time, Shippo turned and said, "Don't worry; I trust you." With that, he disappeared through the mirror.

Nobody knew how long Kiyoko stayed at the spot she was in but it was a very long time. She played back everything they talked about, feeling quite dazed and absent-minded.

He made her face red, made her smile and laugh, and made her feel important and like any other demon or human being; a living creature with an existence. He made her feel whole.

But what was this feeling she had? She couldn't understand why her face grew hot every time she saw him or why her heart beat so fast every time she thought of him.

Referring back to her 300 years of knowledge and studying human behaviour, Kiyoko concluded.

She had to admit…that she had a crush.

~:~:~:~

"Hmm…good and bad news." The voice murmured as it paced around the floor. _'The monk had made the bad choice but I would have much rather preferred it if Inuyasha, that stupid hanyou, took his place. Instead, he went through the opposite of what I wanted. Damn!'_

It looked over to where Kagome was hanging unconscious.

"Do not worry Kagome…you will have you revenge soon. And then, we will rule together once your soul turns dark." The voice sneered and laughed.

"Things will work out just fine." It gave out one last cackle before disappearing in a wisp of smoke.

* * *

**Enjoyed it? I hope so!**

**See you soon,**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	9. 8 Stolen Identity

**Chapter 8**

As Inuyasha travelled through the path of the mirror, he sensed that the aura began to almost weaken and the air was warm and soft.

He saw the light shining from the other mirror and braced himself for the worst.

'_Alright, here goes nothing.' _With another breath, he cracked his knuckles and leaped through to the other side with a battle cry.

However, Inuyasha was expecting demons to come lunging at him within the second and did not expect him to be blinded by warm sunlight once again.

He landed and began swinging his claws around, imitating the action of slaying demons but instead was buried in flowers petals and blades of grass instead.

As he immerged with another roar, he then realised that he was alone. His strong battle cries began to fade with uncertainty as he scratched his head in embarrassment.

He had wanted to test his strength again, feeling the ease of his claws run through demon flesh, but was faced with disappointment.

Kikyo had forbidden him to do anything related to battling and well…pretty much everything that had to do with the Feudal Era once they moved to Kagome's time. She had locked their clothes up and kept anything related to their past life in the attic, left for dead. Inuyasha wasn't exactly happy about that, but with the strange power Kikyo had over him, he obeyed in the end.

Inuyasha looked around and luckily, no one was there to see his little show. He sighed in relief. His friends would have certainly laughed at him. Speaking of friends, he wondered where they were…but shook his head at his soft heart.

"Nah, they'll be okay. They can take care of themselves," Inuyasha said out loud.

He began walking around and took in his surroundings. It was almost like the landscape they had arrived to. Rolling hills filled with lush grass and flowers, rich forests guarding each large area, and animals chattered deep within them.

Inuyasha didn't know where to start. There were acres of forests and what seemed like endless amounts of grass and hills. Inuyasha hated to be stuck in these situations, and he growled with frustration. He didn't know where his friends were, let alone Kagome, and he didn't know where to go to find either of them, and as much as he hates to admit it, he hated that he was alone.

Over the years, Inuyasha wasn't afraid or shy to admit that he needed the company of his friends and Kagome by his side anymore. His stubbornness and pride still stuck and once in a while he would deny ever wanting them. But he knew that he could trust his friends, he still does, but he wanted to save Kagome himself so that he could make things up with her.

'_**Do you really think it's going to solve things?' **_Inuyasha's demon side spoke, but this time it wasn't of dominance, but of scorn and pity for how stupid the hanyou is.

'_Duh, of course she's not, idiot. Even if Kagome is kind, she probably won't forgive any of you guys for leaving her.' _Inuyasha's human spoke as well, and for once agreeing with its other half.

'_What does everyone else have to do with leaving her?'_ Inuyasha wondered.

_'__**Ugh, you really are an idiot aren't you? Have you been that blind ever since that dead priestess left you? Didn't I warn you that this would happen, that you shouldn't trust her again?'**_The demon spoke with disgust. _**'I can't believe that you are that idiotic.'**_

'_Hey, don't get Kikyo involved in this!'_ Inuyasha argued with his mind.

'_Would you both just shut up?' _Inuyasha's human half interjected. '_Look buddy, Kagome isn't going to be mad at just you, although most of her hatred will, but everyone else had left her to go into the Modern Era while she had sacrificed __**her **__own life on the other side of the well because she wanted to be with you guys. But, everyone left for their own needs, wanting to start a new life. She left her family, her friends, her current life just to live with everyone here…but everyone left her…even the most important people…' _

'_**For once I agree,' **_huffed the demon half.

'_I thought you didn't like Kagome,' _thought Inuyasha.

'_**I don't,' **_admitted the demon. _**'Kagome's always been the one to keep me from taking over. But hey, it's better than that sick, cold, priestess Kikyo.'**_

'_Would you leave Kikyo out of this already?!'_

None of his sides replied and after a few minutes of silence, Inuyasha concluded that they all decided to lie back for a while. It took a lot of energy for them to speak up

Inuyasha could finally think to himself.

'_It's true though…Kagome did leave everything from her time to stay in the Feudal Era. She wanted for us to stay together…as a family. Sango had become like her sister, Miroku like a brother, and Shippo as a son…and me like…like…'_

A breeze swept through and wandered through his silver hair which shined with its former glory. He had left it in the dust when Kikyo left. He was filled with sorrow and grief and it showed through his face and hair. But once his friends showed up and agreed to stay by his side in quest once again, he slapped himself for being so stupid and washed up. His eyes shined once again with excitement but was darkened with fear and humility for being too heartless and careless. But it was nothing compared to the pain he was feeling now. His heart was torn in two when Kikyo left, but now it was shattered to pieces.

He was hurting bad.

But the breeze that blew through at that moment was different. In each dimension, a breeze announced the arrival of another person or thing and Inuyasha discovered it with his oh-so-ever sensitive nose. Other than that, there was no wind.

As the wind collided softly with his person, it brought Inuyasha out of thought and he furrowed his brows at the scent that it carried. The breeze later died down but Inuyasha had the smell locked within his mind.

He smirked as he turned towards the nearest forest and went to find the only current female partner in his gang. Glad there was something to distract him from pain, he travelled as fast as his legs could carry him, uncomfortable with the silence and yearning for another soul and body beside him.

~:~:~:~

If there wasn't any flash or the sound of shimmering, Sango would have looked like she had just come out of the side of a huge tree. The tree was old with age and ivy curled around its trunk, but yet it stood proud and tall and wore the ivy as its crown.

The forest was very dense, and the shadows seemed to move. The leaves would ruffle at the slightest touch as a creature passed by, hidden in the shadows, watching the newly arrived prey. It gave Sango the creeps.

A twig snapped and Sango whipped around, her hand immediately flew to her weapon and she looked around searching for a sign of life…or living dead.

Another shuffle came behind her.

Sango snapped around and threw Hiraikotsu towards the sound, crashing trees down in the process. Sango waited for an impact and for it to come back…but it never came.

'_Hiraikotsu?' _Sango worried. This had never happened before…except when it got stuck in a corpse, but now?

"You know, that was really unnecessary Sango." Inuyasha's voice reached her ears.

"Inuyasha, is that you?" Sango smiled, feeling better already. Inuyasha immerged from the shadows carrying her Hiraikotsu, a smile plastered on his face.

"Thank god I found you." Sango rushed up to him.

"Err…don't you mean that I found you?"

"Don't go criticizing me now." Sango crossed her arms. But her face faded from annoyance to worry. "Is…Miroku with you?"

Inuyasha looked at her, still with annoyance on his face. "Hell no, why would that idiot be with me? It's not like we were together after that demon girl transported us."

Sango looked hurt but found Inuyasha's tone suspicious. "Inuyasha, are you feeling alright? You're acting odd."

Inuyasha's ears twitched. He avoided eye contact. "Err…yeah Sango, I'm fine…just kind of irritated at this place…I guess." Clearing his throat he changed the subject. "_Anyway_…let's go…find the others!" With that, he sped off.

'_I wonder if he's really alright…He's acting weird.' _Swearing she would find out later, she chased after him, not having a clue where they were going.

~:~:~:~

Inuyasha arrived where Sango was just previously at. This made the man very confused.

"Huh? Where is she? I swear she was just here…" He sniffed around for a while…until he came crashing with his own scent.

"What the…" Inuyasha was shocked. It seriously made _no _sense.

_'There were **two** people here…and one of them…was **me**?'_

* * *

**Reviews welcome, my friends!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	10. 9 Miroku's Memory and a Shattered Soul

**Hope the edits are fine and to your liking!**

**Let's continue, shall we?**

* * *

**Chapter 9**

Miroku stepped out of the darkness expecting clear, blue skies and blowing, green grass. He definitely did not expect to step out into darkness once more.

Once the shimmer subsided, Miroku looked around in horror. The sky was definitely not blue, but a dark, hazy purple instead, with black, clumps that looked like storm clouds in the so-called sky.

At least, Miroku hoped it was clouds.

Even the air around him was purple with poison, floating around and decomposing most of what was there.

Miroku almost vomited at the atrocious stench that travelled in the damp air.

It was the smell of corpses, blood, and the miasma that was once trapped within their bodies but leaked out into the open air once they were slayed. It was making Miroku's vision all blurry and his stomach churn.

Miroku leaned a little into his staff, hoping it'll give him some support.

Looking around the ground Miroku could see bodies of demons, slashed and torn through, spilled throughout the ground. Blood made the dirt unnaturally red and Miroku could make out the skulls of humans adorning the path; hundreds, maybe thousands that lead down the road.

Shivering, Miroku hoped that somewhere further on there would be some sort of oasis. So grasping on to that sliver of hope, he stumbled along the path clear of dead demon bodies as best as he could, covering his nose with his sleeve to block the poison from reaching inside his body.

Miroku could feel himself swaying and his vision going in circles. It's been years since he's actually fought or brought stress onto or into his body. Every since his Wind Tunnel dispersed when Naraku died, there was no other way for him to intake anymore toxin into his body unless it was through his mouth.

Now, Miroku discovered that his nose was another option of dying

Yippee…great news.

Fear travelled through his body and struck him to the very core. Where was everyone else? Where was he?

What was going to happen to him? Was he going to die here?

'_Sango…'_

The man's thoughts were filled to the brim with worry for his beloved wife and he prayed for her safety, hoping that her fate wasn't as worse as his.

He smiled grimly as he remembered the group's final encounter with Naraku and how hopeless everything seemed. Well, this seemed like one of the times except this time, he was utterly alone.

It still seemed too good to be true that Naraku was gone and that they could live peaceful lives with each other since his existence had haunted them for so long. But Kagome was gone and that definitely disrupted the peace they all had fought so hard to earn.

Miroku inwardly growled as his frustration grew. He was so irritated that even though they had suffered so much to try to get the lives they wanted, in the end, they still ended up in pain. It seemed that the gods did not want them to have happiness and took every chance to take it away from them.

Miroku coughed and struggled to breath. He wanted to rest; to escape this waking nightmare.

But he knew better. With Kagome gone, Inuyasha would suffer once more and he didn't want his closet friend to suffer after what had happened between him and Kikyo.

But thinking of what happened to Kagome and how they all ended up in this situation made Miroku burn in anger. If Inuyasha hadn't left Kagome in the first place, none of this would have happened. He scowled at Inuyasha's stubbornness and ignorance.

The more he thought about it, the madder he became. It made him think back to the time their wishes were granted.

"_Inuyasha, is that really what you want?!" Miroku yelled at Inuyasha. He couldn't believe his ears when he heard that Inuyasha was going to wish for Kikyo to be back with them. _

_Sango was equally mad and if not, worse._

"_Why do you need her back?! Kikyo is already at peace and you want to bring her back amongst the living once more?! Why?! To make her suffer even more?!" Sango was on the verge of tears and hysterics. _

_Inuyasha burst. "You guys still don't understand do you?!" he yelled back._

_Getting up from where he was sitting, he turned his back on his friends and stopped in front of the bamboo curtain covering the doorway. _

_His voice lowered as he sighed. "I failed to protect her. I was given a second chance and I **still** failed to protect her. That hurt more than anything. But this time…" he paused to shake his head. "No…this time will be different. Once I wish her back, I'm…going to marry her."_

"_WHAT?!" _

_Inuyasha's ears flattened as he flinched. _

"_You're not serious right?!" Shippo was flabbergasted._

_Inuyasha stayed silent._

"_What about Kagome?!" Sango yelled. "What will happen to her?!" _

_Inuyasha looked at his feet._ "_Kagome will be safe. She'll be with her family and have me out of her life." _

"_Do you think Kagome wants that?! How much did Kagome suffer when Kikyo was alive?! Huh?! Haven't you even thought about how Kagome feels?! You think she **wants **you out of her life?!" Sango screamed._

_Inuyasha gritted his teeth as if it could strengthen his resolve. "It's…for the best."_

_Sango stormed up to him mumbling curses and raised her hand to strike him._

_Inuyasha shut his eyes and prepared for impact…but it never came. _

_He opened his eyes and saw Sango's arm quivering in the air while tears spilled out of her eyes. Sango's face was filled with pure frustration and sadness and it looked like all she wanted to do was beat him to a pulp…but her arm failed to fall. Sango bit her lower lip and slowly lowered her arm._

_Inuyasha stared at her, surprised. _

_Sango marched around him to exit the little house without another word. Inuyasha forced himself to stay stubborn._

_He snorted. "Huh, no punishment?" _

_Sango paused with her bangs over her eyes by Inuyasha's side. He glanced at her and flinched. Sango had met his eyes and guilt immediately struck him down. That hard look in her eyes was enough to make Inuyasha feel two inches tall._

_Bitterly, she said, "There is no punishment fit to give you for what you're about to do." Her voice was icy cold and serious. It even made Miroku shiver._

_The room was deadly silent. Sango walked out the curtain after a minute._

_Miroku, not knowing what to do, walked the same path and trailed after Sango. He could hear Shippo sniffling on his shoulder._

_Before Miroku exited, Shippo jumped off his shoulder and landed in front of Inuyasha and pointed at him with an accusing finger. "Inuyasha…you…you baka…I hate you!" Shippo began crying. _

"_Feh, that's fine with me," he retorted back._

_But Inuyasha could feel his own heart begin to squeeze. With his bangs covering his pain filled eyes, he threw Shippo out the door._

_Miroku luckily caught Shippo before he landed face first in the dirt. Shippo was still crying. "That stupid Inuyasha…why would he do that?! Stupid…Inuyasha."_

_Miroku heaved a sigh. "Well, there's nothing we can do now. It seems that Inuyasha has made up his mind." _

_He walked towards where Sango was throwing rocks at the house that contained the hanyou. Miroku had to dodge several of them before finally reaching out and calming his wife._

_As he sat cradling his wife, he tried to make out what she was saying._

"_Ka…Ka…Kagome-e will b-be so heartbroken! W-What are we going to do? That i-i-idiot!" Sango took some time to breathe before continuing in a more calmed voice._

"_How can you be so calm about it?" Sango asked her husband in shuddering words. _

_Miroku sighed heavily. "Trust me, I'm just as angry as you are. I'm just trying my best not to push that guy over a cliff," he growled._

_Choking on her tears, Sango's voice seemed a hundred times more timid than before when she spoke. "Miroku, do you know what Kagome said to me after our wedding party? You know, the one she planned for us?" _

_Miroku, being to overwhelmed to speak, just shook his head hoping Sango felt the movement. _

"_She told me that she was so happy to have us married and that we could all finally live together in the village."_

_Miroku shifted to a more comfortable position. "So…you didn't tell her that we were planning to move to her era?" _

_He felt Sango shaking and held her even closer. "N…no I didn't. I couldn't bring myself to tell her." Sango sat up to look at her husband. "Oh Miroku, she looked so happy. I've never seen her so happy before. She believes that we will all live as a family here in the village but…I never told her that we wanted to live in her era where we could have a new life. Oh Miroku, now with Inuyasha planning to bring back Kikyo, I don't know what's going to happen!" Fresh tears began to pour. _

"_Should we tell her?" _

_Silence…._

"_No…we'll wait until we wish on the jewel and until the deed is done. That way, Inuyasha can also bear the true punishment he deserves." Sango got up and wiped her eyes with her sleeve._ "_Inuyasha's true punishment can only come from Kagome." Sango fidgeted with her hands. _

_Miroku got up as well and placed his hands on her shoulder. Deep sorrow bore into their eyes. Shippo sniffled on his shoulder, strangely quiet for a little boy his age. Even he knew the seriousness of the moment. _

"_Hey everyone, I'm back! Sango, Miroku, Shippo! Hey!" The three turned their heads to the sound of Kagome's voice and there she was, laughing and smiling like it was the happiest day of her life. She waved and ran over to them. _

_Sango forced herself to smile and not unleash the wail she buried inside. However, Sango could feel a lump crawling up her throat, forcing its way up and out._

_Swallowing, Sango smiled and walked up to her sister-like figure for an embrace._

_Miroku and Shippo exchanged glances and walked up to Kagome with an equally fake smile…but Kagome was too excited to notice._

"_Alright, so I packed everything and I made sure that I brought the jewel with me, see?" Kagome reached around her neck and pulled out from under her shirt the complete jewel. "Ready to get your wishes granted? Oh wait…where's Inuyasha?" Kagome lowered the jewel and looked around in wonder._

_The three exchanged worried glanced again and Sango spoke up. "Oh don't worry he's coming…oh, there he is right now!" Sango pointed towards the hut with false enthusiasm._

"_Inuyasha, I'm here!" Kagome smiled with pure happiness once again and ran towards the hanyou._

_Inuyasha, looking deep in thought, was brought back into the world by Kagome's voice once again. Smiling, although not happily, he caught Kagome in an embrace. After putting Kagome down, they exchanged some words and Kagome grabbing Inuyasha by the hand and pulled him towards the rest of the group._

_Sango and Shippo refused to look at him and Miroku gave Inuyasha a grave look, but Kagome still didn't realise the tension between them._

"_Alright guys, you ready? Sango, you first." Kagome placed the jewel in Sango's hand. _

_Sango squeezed Miroku's hand with her free one and closed her eyes._

_A pink mist originating from the jewel spread across Sango's body, granting what Miroku believed was the ability to travel the well. The same thing happened to Miroku and Shippo as their turns came._

_Then, it was Inuyasha's turn. Miroku placed the jewel in his hands and looked Inuyasha straight in the eyes. Inuyasha tried to retract his arm but Miroku held on to the chain of the jewel and forced Inuyasha's amber eyes to clash with his own sapphire ones._

_Inuyasha gave a familiar "Feh" and tugged forcefully on the jewel so that Miroku had to let go. Inuyasha stared at the jewel in his hands and looked up at Kagome's smiling face. Miroku noticed immediately the guilt that shadowed his face. Inuyasha gave a little timid smile and looked away sharply._

_Heaving a sigh Inuyasha closed his eyes for a second but then reopened them. He turned to Kagome and handed the jewel to her with a little shove._

"_Here, you go first," he mumbled._

_Inuyasha ignored the confused face on Kagome's face and crossed his arms while looking away._

"_Oh, um…okay then!" Kagome's beautiful, pure smile returned and she closed her eyes to wish._

_The jewel began to pulse and pink light illuminated from within Kagome's body. The wind played with her hair and as it settled, Kagome opened her eyes and smiled. _

_Shippo piped up. "Hey Kagome, what did you wish for?" He jumped into Kagome's arms._

_Everyone waited in anticipation. Kagome laughed and said, "Not yet. We still have Inuyasha's wish to grant." _

_Sango tried to persuade her. _"_But Kag-"_

_Kagome raised a finger to cut off Sango's speech. _

"_No buts, lets be fair now." She turned to Inuyasha who was staring at the jewel. "Okay Inuyasha, it's your turn!" She smiled at him. Inuyasha's eyes began to waver._

"_Alright then, here we go." He closed his eyes and wished. Dread filled everyone's hearts except Kagome's since she was still clueless about everything that happened while she was away. _

_Sango pulled Kagome a little further away from Inuyasha and spoke to her. She tried to stay cheerful as she made sure Kagome's back was towards Inuyasha._

"_So…Kagome, what did you wish for?" Sango asked._

_Kagome smiled a little unsurely. "Why the privacy?"_

"_Never mind that, just tell us," Sango said a little too harshly._

_Confused and slightly startled, Kagome said, "Well, I wished that I can become a more powerful priestess so I could protect you guys when we live here." Kagome looked down at the ground. "I'm tired of being useless and powerless. I want to be able to do something when we're fighting. I want to make sure that we can stay safe when we live here." _

_Sango couldn't take it anymore. Kagome saw Sango's lips begin to tremble and tears surface in her eyes. Soon, Sango burst out into a full-out sob into Miroku's shoulder. Miroku wrapped his arms around her._

"_Sango, oh my god, Sango are you okay? What's wrong? Did something happen?" Kagome rushed to her side. _

_When Sango failed to speak, Miroku spoke for her. _

"_Kagome, do you know what we wished for?" Kagome was immediately struck with fear when she saw the seriousness in Miroku's eyes._

_Kagome shook her head._

"_We wished that we could live in your era and leave this place. I want to get a job so that I can support us. We want to make a living in __**your**__ era…not this demon infested place." Miroku had to muster as much strength as he could to maintain eye contact with the priestess._

_The liveliness in Kagome's eyes dispersed immediately and she turned to look away with a quiet, "Oh…"_

_Sango had stopped crying and although sniffling, she walked up to Kagome and lightly touched her arm._

_Kagome looked at her sister-figure and smiled a sweet, sad smile._

"_I understand. You both want what's best for each other and I get that. I wish you both the best of luck and happiness." Kagome held Sango's hands in her own and smiled._

"_Kagome…you can come with us you know. That way you won't have to leave your family," Sango tried to plead with her._

_Kagome shook her head. "No…the only reason I made my wish was so I could live here in peace. And besides…I can't leave Inuyasha alone." Miroku and Sango exchanged glances once again. _

_Kagome turned to Shippo with new hope in her eyes. "So Shippo, what did you wish for?"_

_Shippo looked distraught. "Well…I wished that I could go to school in your era. It sounded like so much fun so…I wished that I could go too." _

_The hope vanished from Kagome's eyes. Miroku felt her aura waver…but she still refused to break._

"_Oh, that's wonderful Shippo!" Kagome smiled. "You'll have so much fun and make so many friends!" Kagome petted Shippo on the head but no smiles came from the three. _

_Trying to stay cheerful, and desperate to break the tension, Kagome started to turn towards Inuyasha once more. "C'mon guys, lets find out what he wished for!" _

"_Kagome, wait!" _

_But the girl had already turned away from them to run and not much later…she stopped dead in her tracks._

_Miroku watched as the colour drained from Kagome's face and her eyes widened in shock. Kagome was frozen on the spot, shaken to the very core of her body. _

_Miroku felt her soul crack._

_Miroku, Sango and Shippo watched helplessly as Kagome sank to her knees and stared with fear-stricken wide eyes at the scene in front of her. _

_There they were. Standing under a tree and holding each other's hands while exchanging words to each other, Inuyasha was looking joyfully into her eyes as she looked back as emotionlessly as ever…_

_**Kikyo.**_

_Kagome couldn't look down but neither could she look away. Her body didn't seem to respond to the screaming inside her head. Her eyes didn't water and her lungs didn't work. Holding her breath and internally crumbling, Kagome stared straight at them from her helpless position on the ground._

_When Inuyasha felt someone watching them and could smell her scent faintly in the wind, he pushed away the hurt in his heart and slowly turned to meet the lifeless eyes of his second love. _

_He had never told her that he loved her and his heart had hurt from the containment, but somehow, he managed to keep it to himself and decide that he didn't deserve her. It hurt his heart and soul to do this to Kagome but he believed that it was for the best._

_It took everything Kagome had not to break down crying after Inuyasha's eyes – the same beautiful golden eyes Kagome fell in love with – met hers. _

_The two gazed in each other's eyes, lost in thought. Inuyasha tried to look away but he found it hard to resist the deep sadness etched in Kagome's beautiful brown orbs. _

_**I'm sorry…**_

_Why…_

_**It's for the best…**_

_Why…_

_**It's the only way to protect you…**_

_Why her again…_

_**It's for your own good…**_

_Don't leave me alone again…_

_**I love you.**_

_I hate you!_

_**I'm sorry…**_

_I love you._

_Inuyasha took in a quivering breath and finally turned his head._

_Kikyo snaked her arm around Inuyasha and together, they walked towards the group._

_But when Kikyo reached a certain distance, Kagome began to glow a blue colour. Against her will, a white orb flew out of Kagome and into Kikyo's body._

_Everybody except Kikyo gasped. But they knew what it meant. With Kikyo dead yet among the living, she had to live on souls again. _

_But for Kagome, it was different this time. She felt her whole body go numb and cold as she fell almost lifeless to the ground. But not before she landed in Inuyasha's arms once again._

_Kagome forced down her tears and the urge to reach out and embrace him. She didn't want to let him go! Not to Kikyo again! Anyone but her! _

_It wasn't fair! _

_Suddenly, Kagome felt her vision cloud with darkness. She felt her breath escape her and her body go still. Her consciousness vanished into nothing as she ceased to breathe._

"_Kagome, what's wrong?!" Sango rushed up. "Kagome? Kagome!"_

_Inuyasha didn't understand. Why was the girl in his arms so still and cold? Why couldn't he hear her breathing? Why were her eyes so lifeless and staring? _

"_Kagome?" Inuyasha whispered softly. He couldn't believe it. Was Kagome…dead?_

_He felt his heart race in panic. No, it wasn't possible!_

"_Kagome! Kagome!" Inuyasha called out uselessly. "Why isn't she breathing?!" _

_Sango was trying to control her tears and Shippo was continuously shaking Kagome with his tiny paws. Controlled as usual, Miroku stepped in. _

"_Inuyasha, because you wished on the Sacred Jewel for Lady Kikyo to walk among the living, a soul must be given as a sacrifice," he explained solemnly, "since Lady Kikyo's own soul could not be returned."_

"_But what does this have to do with Kagome?! She's dead, goddamn it!" _

"_Listen, Inuyasha!" Miroku ordered, silencing Inuyasha in an instant. "In order to resurrect Lady Kikyo, the soul sacrificed must be matching to hers. And since Kagome is a reincarnation of Lady Kikyo – the most perfect match one could ever obtain of one's soul – in order for Kikyo to live, Kagome must die."_

"_No!" Inuyasha couldn't help but scream. "She can't be dead!" _

"_Are you unhappy with the decision, Inuyasha?" _

_Kikyo's voice silenced them all. The tension built but Kikyo was looking only at Inuyasha. He looked up at her helplessly._

"_It's…not that…"_

"_Do you regret resurrecting me?"_

"_No!" Inuyasha shouted. "No…it's not that. I just…wasn't expecting this." Inuyasha let his gaze linger over Kagome's lifeless face. He could feel his eyes stinging. _

"_Then what were you expecting, Inuyasha?" asked Miroku bitterly. "For both Kagome and Lady Kikyo to live in peace? That everything would go the way __**you **__wanted it to be?" Although the man didn't lose his control, his eyes narrowed dangerously. _"_Because of Kagome's soul, Lady Kikyo will no longer need the souls of the dead, since Kagome's soul is already enough."_

"_But…Kagome-"_

"_Kagome is dead thanks to you!" interrupted Sango in hysterics. Her eyes were bloodshot from the amount of crying she's been doing all day and her hate felt like it was swallowing her up in flames._

"_What's going on here?"_

_Everyone turned to see Kaede walking towards them, curiosity in her eyes. But then horror drained her face's colour as her eyes laid on her older sister._

"_Sister…Kikyo?" she whispered in shock._

_Kikyo smiled a little. "Kaede," she replied simply._

"_But…how are you alive? Didn't you already pass?" the old woman asked in awe, walking closer in fascination. _

"_Inuyasha resurrected me with the Jewel."_

"_What?" Kaede gasped. Then her eyes fell upon Kagome's lifeless body in Inuyasha's arms on the ground. He met Kaede's eyes with guilt swimming in its depths. _

"_Inuyasha," Kaede began gravely, "Have you forgotten what happened when my sister was resurrected the first time?"_

"_You mean with that witch?"_

"_Aye, Urasue."_

"_What about her?" Inuyasha asked hesitantly._

"_When she tried to bring my sister back to life, she stole Kagome too since she was Kikyo's incarnation. But in order for Kikyo to live, Kagome's soul needed to be transferred into my sister's body."_

"_So? What's your point?"_

"_Kagome had already died that one time when her soul was successfully transferred into Sister Kikyo's body."_

"_But…Kagome was alive after."_

"_Aye, but only after she called back her soul into its rightful body. Which is also why Kikyo had to survive on the souls of the dead."_

_The reality struck hard. "So…you're saying that…"_

_Kaede nodded. "Now that Kikyo's body wanders the earth again, it's calling to Kagome's soul once again. Really, this was supposed to happen the first time if it wasn't for Kagome's strength to call back her soul." _

_Inuyasha stared down at Kagome. "But why isn't anything happening now?"_

_But right then, both Kagome and Kikyo glowed and eerie blue. Several small white orbs flew out of Kikyo and into Kagome. Inuyasha swore he was seeing déjà vu. _

_Kikyo sank to her knees and was panting, but she didn't look as deathly-pale as she did before when Kagome called back her soul the first time. Inuyasha wondered why._

_Suddenly, Kagome stirred in Inuyasha's arms. Looking down expectantly, everyone saw light return to Kagome's eyes. As they focused, they looked around in a haze._

"_Kagome!" Sango called out smiling in relief._

_Kagome struggled to sit up and Inuyasha supported her with a hand on her back. Kagome winced at the soreness her body felt after what had happened._

_But instead of paying attention to everyone else, Kagome's brown eyes focused on Kikyo who was kneeled on the ground in front of her. Her eyes were slightly narrowed and deadly serious. The look wasn't to kill…but to warn._

_Kikyo stared back just as serious._

_The rest of the group altered their gaze between the two, not knowing what silent message they were sending._

"_You tried taking my soul once before and tried to take my life several times after that too…but I'm not letting you take it a second time," Kagome said._

"_Then why have you allowed me to live supposing you already took back your soul?" _

_Kagome stayed silent for a few seconds. "I think you know why, but I'll say it nonetheless. I've allowed you to keep half my soul, which is more than enough to keep you alive without the need to use other dead souls."_

"_You could control how much of your soul returned?!" Kaede asked in shock. "You've even divided your soul in two and allowed half to stay in Sister Kikyo's body?!" _

_Everyone stared at Kagome in shock but she didn't reply. She kept her attention and eyes firmly on Kikyo. _

"_Why did you do it?" Kikyo asked with her almost emotionless tone._

"_Because **you** need it to survive….and…," Kagome hesitated, "Inuyasha needs **you**."_

"_Kagome!" Sango, Miroku and Shippo blurted in surprise and in unison. _

_Kagome didn't bother to acknowledge them. She was aware that Inuyasha's hand was on her back and the hurt look in eyes as he stared at her, but she knew she was right. _

"_Excuse me," she whispered as she stood up shakily and wobbled off. _

_The next few days passed like a blur and no one had managed to even talk to Kagome. She spent her days outside the village and slept underneath the stars out in the open. Her meals were brought to her and although they were always gone when her friends came to get it, Kagome looked paler and skinnier than ever. Sango, Miroku and Shippo were getting worried. _

_Miroku felt a huge, thick void between them and Kagome and the sadness that made up the wall was even more intense. Never has Miroku felt so much sadness coming from one person. But something was also different about her. _

_A much…darker and ominous presence that was never there before was now nestled in Kagome's heart. _

_Soon, Inuyasha and Kikyo's wedding was over and it was time for Miroku, Sango and Shippo to say good-bye. _

_Miroku couldn't forget the look on Kagome's face when Kikyo convinced Inuyasha to go as well. She said it was because she wanted a new life without the constant threat of demons. It sickened Miroku to see how easily Inuyasha was convinced. _

_When it was Inuyasha's turn for good-bye, Kagome could only look at Inuyasha with tear-stained eyes. Inuyasha had to look away. The air was thick._

_Kagome walked closer. She whispered one word that broke Inuyasha's heart._

"_Stay?" Kagome reached out a hand. _

_Inuyasha could feel tears coming out of his own eyes as he looked at the open palm of Kagome's delicate hand._

_With much strength, he looked away with his bangs covering his eyes and mustered:_

"_Good-bye Kagome."_

_With that, for he could bear no more, he took Kikyo by the hand and jumped into the well._

_The rest of the group watched as Kagome's hand quivered for a moment, seeming like she was still reaching for her love that left her behind._

_Then, she pulled her fingers into a small fist and retracted her arm, holding it to her chest._

_Not knowing what else to do, Sango, Miroku and Shippo said quiet farewells and jumped into the well as well._

_Miroku knew something that nobody but he and Inuyasha knew, and he knew that Inuyasha knew. He was even sure Kikyo knew. _

_A living person's soul can only crack or fade…_

_But Kagome's…was **shattered. **_

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**I personally think the edits are better, but again, it's up to you! Hope you like the work I'm putting in this!**

**Yours forever,**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	11. 10 Shippo's Scent and Kagome's Anger

**To newcomers who are reading this story, I hope you like it!**

**And to my old followers who have decided to re-read this story because I took way to long…hope you like it too! **

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**Chapter 10**

Shippo walked out of the mirror hesitantly, hoping that whatever else was on the other would be nice.

Out of his surprise, he was bathed in sunlight and the warm scent of flowers. He had entered the meadow that Inuyasha had been in just moments ago.

A breeze swept through, although Shippo did not know that it was announcing his arrival.

"Well, this place isn't so bad. I think I'll like this place." he said certainly placing his hands on his hips. He breathed in deeply, taking in the grassy scent carried in the wind.

He stretched and yawned. When was the last time he had slept? What time was it anyway?

Shippo shook his head in disappointment. It was different now, for they were all trapped in a time warp. One mirror can lead to another planet if one was placed there.

Walking away from the metal mirror, he noticed a small pile of flower petals not far off from where he stood. He jumped towards it and landed softly. The strong aroma made him sneeze once…twice…three times before he sniffled and rubbed his nose on his sleeve.

But why was that there? It was definitely out of order from the rest of the setting. Was something hiding in it?

Shippo shivered at the thought. But he noticed something strange about that pile of flower petals…it held a familiar scent.

When he got closer, he nose confirmed it.

Inuyasha was here and not too long ago either. Although the reason why Inuyasha would climb into a pile made of flower petals was beyond confusing.

Shippo walked around for a while, following his nose. Then, he saw that Inuyasha's scent lead into one of the forests. Not to mention, one of the deeper forests.

It gave Shippo the shivers as he took in the uneasy silence of the great woods.

With a deep breath and self reassurance, he marched into the woods, looking for Inuyasha.

He came upon the clearing that Inuyasha ran to and collided with Sango's scent as well however, more faded and distant than Inuyasha's. Sniffing around, he saw the footprints left in the dirt by his friends. But wait…what's this?

The trail that he had followed was Inuyasha's scent, yes, but why was his scent also coming from the opposite side of the forest Shippo came through? The smell was much lighter and mingled with other scent that Shippo couldn't detect out who.

"How could Inuyasha be in two places at the same time?" Shippo wondered out loud to himself.

He switched paths and tracked the scent of the second Inuyasha and followed that road. When it lead him past the clearing and a little into the woods, Shippo's blood ran cold.

Along that path lay many corpses of animals and smaller, weaker demon that roamed in the forest.

How could he have missed that before?

Then that's when Shippo noticed a layer of dark magic covering the forest ground, shielding the strong scent of blood and the dead from lingering in the air, preventing having the imposter Inuyasha's cover blown.

Smart…and sneaky. The dark magic was nothing but bad news, full of hatred and despise.

Shippo backed away and ran back towards the real Inuyasha's scent. He noticed that the imposter's smell was just as light as Sango's, compared to the stronger and more dominant smell of the real Inuyasha. That could only mean…

"Oh no…Sango met the wrong Inuyasha didn't she?" Shippo mumbled at himself, staring at the footprints of Sango and the fake Inuyasha travelling east. The real Inuyasha's scent was found following them.

Shippo grumbled. "Stupid Inuyasha, you always come late don't you?" Sighing, Shippo travelled after his two friends and one imposter.

~:~:~:~

Chains rattled as Kagome struggled against them, trying to rip them off of their hold. She had been going at it for a while now, whether it was biting, kicking or using all the strength she had to try to free herself from her bonds.

After one more try, she grunted in defeat, letting her body go limp once more. Panting, she chose to use the remaining bit of her strength to think.

She has been here, trapped for nearly a month now. She survived without food…just water. Oh she got food alright, but Kagome refused to eat and drank water instead.

Kagome laughed at the irony. She remembered how she wished to become stronger…to be able to protect the people she loved.

She hadn't expected them to leave her.

Nonetheless, she had continued to train with Lady Kaede until the day of the old-woman's death. That was a solemn day…

And the day Kagome was left completely and utterly alone at last.

However, Kagome refused to weaken. Even though her own soul was shattered, she continued to push on, swearing that she would become stronger than ever. She promised she would stay strong not only for her own sake…but the village's. With Kaede gone and all her friends gone, Kagome didn't even have a chance to depend on someone else.

But deep inside, she didn't know that her smiling, exterior was only an empty shell holding growing darkness on the inside.

But even after all that preparation it wasn't enough to defend herself against her newest enemy. In fact, it was easier than it should have been.

It was the day great darkness swarm upon the village, gulping all of the land. Kagome tried her best to uphold her village since she was its "successor" after Kaede passed away.

It was her responsibility to protect it.

A shadow, a mere wisp of black smoke swept up in front of the barrier Kagome was holding. She was getting tired, sweating and panting, stretching the barrier as far as she could, defending the large fields of crop as well as the houses of the people in the village. She knew that she wouldn't hold it that strong for long. The dark smoke swirled around the semi-circle, looking for a hole to seep in through and destroy from within.

The dark magic was like no other that Kagome had ever witnessed.

Chanting under her breath one final incantation to make sure the barrier was still holding, she fell silent and focused. She was sitting on one edge of the barrier, facing towards the outside of the village where she could sense the strongest wave of evil.

That's when she heard the voice.

'_Ka…go…me…'_

The voice slithered in her mind and it sent the hair on the back of her neck into a chill.

'_Kagome…you don't have to fight me. Let me ease your suffering.' _The voice sounded like it was smiling.

Kagome shook her head, too tired to respond and continued to concentrate on protecting the village. That's when the clump of black smoke appeared right in front of the priestess outside of the barrier, taking the form of a figure wearing a smoky, black cloak.

A black hand reached out, beckoning her.

'_Don't deny it, my dear Kagome…you are suffering deep within your heart. I can ease your pain and let you be happy forever.'_

Kagome opened her eyes and glared feverishly at the hooded figure. "I don't need you."

'_No you don't…but you need __**him**__…don't you?'_

Kagome gasped.

'_That's right. You need __**Inuyasha**__.' _They emphasized the tabooed name.

"Stop it!" she yelled. Kagome felt her heart squeeze into a brace.

The voice laughed. _'My poor, poor, dear Kagome. How sad and broken your soul is. I can mend it. You can become stronger, and together, we can get our __**revenge! **__You will no longer need to bear the burden of defending this village for I can do that while you plan and let your hatred grow stronger._

"No…" Kagome whispered. "I'll…never let that happen."

'_He __**left **__you, Kagome dear. He __**abandoned **__you!_ _He left with the only person he truly cared about. __**Kikyo.**__ The woman you had come to hate. The __**only**__ person that you hate.'_

Kagome couldn't stop the tears that now flowed down her cheeks; both from sadness and frustration. "Please…stop doing this."

'_I'll stop once you sacrifice yourself to me. There's no reason why you shouldn't. The village will be fine under my protection and this way…by joining me…you can plan your revenge.'_

"I don't…need revenge," Kagome mumbled, unable to raise her voice above a whisper. But for some reason…her voice seemed unsure even to herself.

'_Don't kid yourself, Kagome. Inuyasha **left **you. He didn't need you anymore and once Kikyo came back to life, he just tossed you aside.'_

Kagome's lungs hurt and her heart was beyond recovery.

'_You mean nothing to Inuyasha while you loved him with all your heart. You. Mean. Nothing. And you're just going to sit there doing nothing?'_

"I…"

'_Give yourself over, Kagome. And your pain will be revenged.'_

Kagome went silent, her body quivering from exhaustion and complication.

Finally, the barrier dropped and the shadow closed in around her. People screamed and panicked, fearing for both their beloved priestess and themselves.

Kagome closed her eyes and let herself drop in exhaustion, but never touched the ground. She felt as if she had landed on a cloud when she fell onto the mist. The black smoke covered her as it withdrew from the village. Kagome sank into the depths of the smoke and disappeared from sight.

The smoke shimmered and drew back all its wisps of black smoke like a whirlpool and disappeared.

The sun was uncovered and the sky became blue again.

Kagome was no where to be seen.

Now, Kagome hung in chains, crying as she remembered the mistake she made. Of course she had been angry, of course she had wanted revenge on him since he had left her for the final time, but all those feelings of pain and betrayal didn't fuel her anymore. But the feeling of hating herself for being so emotionally weak back then made her blood boil.

The chains glowed and pulsed as Kagome's anger stirred.

Kagome swore and tried her best to calm down.

The chains that were placed on her are made from metal poured from hatred. Every time Kagome got angry or negative feelings stirred inside her, the chains would use that energy to feed to their master and creator, the one that held Kagome prisoner, more powerful. And when Kagome's blood boiled, even for a second, the chains would use that to feed their master. But even when Kagome calms down, the chains hold her anger within her and she stays dark with permanent anger.

The chains lost its glow as Kagome calmed down and sighed.

"Don't resist it Kagome…let your anger flow." The voice came back.

"No," Kagome said defiantly. "I made a mistake coming with you here and I will try my best to oppose you."

"You say that now, Kagome dear, but you know you can't fight me off. Soon, your anger will reach great heights and it will stay permanently within you body, mind and soul, bent on revenge! We will get your so-called love and destroy him!" The voice laughed and faded away once more.

Kagome let her head droop…and cried hot tears that fell to the ground. She was left in the darkness once more. No ground, no ceiling, and no door. No way to escape.

'_I have to stay calm and I must no longer get angry or else my soul will be lost to darkness and as much as I want my…revenge…I mustn't give in to my anger.' _

Her eyes began to droop and soon, she was in another restless sleep, filled to the brim with nightmares.

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**Hope you liked it! **

**See you soon,**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	12. 11 The Hidden Truth

**Hey everyone! Hope you're enjoying everything so far!**

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**Chapter 11**

'_I've been following them for hours! I seem to be getting nowhere! Not to mention that this imposter is fast,'' _Inuyasha thought to himself as he ran through the forest.

The sun was beginning to set and gave the sky an orange-pink hue. Inuyasha was getting more and more tired by the hour. He had been running non-stop and so were Sango and the imposter.

Inuyasha jumped over the tops of some trees. _'They would have to stop sooner or later right? They can't go on forever. Sango is a human after all.' _Inuyasha landed on a high branch, sniffing for a fresh trail of their scents.

Almost…almost…

There.

Inuyasha took off once more, running with renewed speed following a closer scent of Sango and his other self.

But the fact that there was another him puzzled Inuyasha. _'How can I be at two places at the same time? Or maybe…it isn't me. It is an imposter after all.' _

Inuyasha breathed in the scent nestled by the evening air. Not a single breeze swept through and the air almost seemed heavy.

Soon the stars dotted the night sky and the moon only half shining. Inuyasha sensed the trail coming to a stop and when the pause came closer, Inuyasha stopped running and perched on a branch, keeping a safe distance away from Sango and the imposter.

'_If the imposter really is me, or someone like me, it must also have the same traits as me,'_ Inuyasha thought as he rested in silence.

If the real Inuyasha could keep up and smell their scents, the imposter must also be able to smell him…if he's not careful. But Inuyasha knew that soon, they would have to meet face to face and discover the hidden truth behind the lie.

This place was unfamiliar to him and it gave him the creeps. It felt like someone…or something, was always watching him and his every move. Inuyasha felt so open, no longer protected with a barrier, as if someone could peel him open at any minute.

Inuyasha leap to another tree, this time, closer to where Sango and him, the fake him, rested. Inuyasha saw through the leaves that they had already set up a campfire and that none of them was sleeping.

_'Then again,' _Inuyasha thought, _'I never sleep.' _This meant that he had to be extra cautious. It actually impressed him that he was so hard to approach.

Inuyasha settled his back against the tree and huddled his sword against him. Dust coated the sheath and there was no longer an aura around it. Seals and rope bounded the hilt to the sheath as it wrapped around the guard. The tragedy of Tessaiga was known to everyone who was there to witness it.

Kikyo, Miroku, Sango, Shippo…everyone that crossed over to start a new life in the Modern Era were there to see it.

Inuyasha tilted his head up to the stars and prayed to Kami.

'_I know what I did was wrong. I would do anything to go back and right what I've wronged.' _Inuyasha looked back at his sword. _'My old man would be so ashamed of me right now. He would never do something like this to Mother.'_

'_Kagome…' _Inuyasha whispered in his head while feeling his heart pinch. _'I know I can't right what went wrong but…I'm so sorry Kagome. I can't believe how blind I was. Kikyo never truly loved me. She just wanted to see you hurt. I should have just let her rest in peace.' _

Inuyasha sighed deeply and shifted his body to a more comfortable position. However, while doing this, his clothing had caught on a piece of bark on the trunk he was leaning on, creating a loud twig-snapping noise that rang through the silence as his body weight pulled it off.

'_Damn!' _Inuyasha swore silently. He didn't dare move now. He heard the quiet murmur of conversation stop dead.

"What was that?" Sango's voice rang clear from the camp fire.

"It was probably just an animal, so stop being so paranoid."

Inuyasha heard himself speak but it wasn't actually him speaking. It was a person who had his voice. A person who sounded exactly like him spoke to Sango.

"Are you sure? I'm not so sure about that…" Sango shuffled around probably holding on to Hiraikotsu for safety.

"Don't worry Sango, I'm sure. Haven't you realized that I'm a demon and you're human? C'mon, trust me." The imposter spoke like he was boasting.

"Inuyasha, don't you mean that you're_** half **_demon?" she pointed out.

'_Ouch, point one for Sango,' _thought Inuyasha, smiling.

"Err…of course that's what I meant. I was just pointing out the fact that I _**do**_ have demon blood in me."

'_This guy's good,' _Inuyasha noticed. _'But he lies like a cheap rug. How can Sango not notice?'_

"Now c'mon Sango, this rest was your idea in the first place. Go get some sleep, I'll take first watch," the fake Inuyasha said.

"Okay…maybe I am going crazy. I think it's this place. It gives me the creeps." More shuffling was heard and soon, Inuyasha could hear the even, deep breathing of sleep.

'_You're not the only one Sango. I'll keep watch over you because I'm going to have to meet face to face with that other me and find out where Kagome is. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Miroku would never forgive me if I do.' _

Inuyasha lightly shifted this time. _'I should probably try to sleep too._

~:~:~:~

"What was that?" Sango's head looked in all directions. Inuyasha smirked when she couldn't see. He knew exactly what, or actually _**who**_, it was. But he's going to make things a lot more interesting before his cover got blown and it'll be even better if his cover is never blown. So for now, he'll keep quiet.

"It was probably just an animal, so stop being so paranoid."

Sango looked over at Inuyasha's confident face and narrowed her eyes suspiciously. He really _is_ acting weird.

But that noise was more disturbing since nothing could be heard from the forest. Not even crickets. The forest didn't even seem like a living one. It's almost like one that grows but was dead already. There didn't seem to be any life left in the trees. So when that snap came out of no where, Sango's heart sped up.

"Are you sure? I'm not so sure about that…" She grabbed her Hiraikotsu.

_'Just in case,' _she thought.

"Don't worry Sango, I'm sure. Haven't you realized that I'm a demon and you're human? C'mon, trust me." Inuyasha looked smug while saying this.

Sango immediately noticed something different and _**that**_ was evidence. Inuyasha was half demon, not _**a **_demon. Not to mention that Inuyasha hated being a half-demon and still wishes to become full.

But for Kagome, Inuyasha waited.

So without thinking, Sango said, "Inuyasha, don't you mean that you're_** half **_demon?"

Inuyasha looked startled but then the blinding confidence he had before returned. "Err…of course that's what I meant, I was just pointing out the fact that I _**do**_ have demon blood in me."

Sango hesitated.

Inuyasha spoke on. "Now c'mon Sango, this rest was your idea in the first place. Go get some sleep; I'll take first watch," he continued, desperately trying to get Sango to let go of the subject, but not so desperate that he was going to blow his cover.

Despite that mistake Inuyasha said earlier, Sango still believe that maybe it was the setting changing Inuyasha; maybe some unknown power.

If only she knew.

"Okay…maybe I am going crazy. I think it's this place. It gives me the creeps." Sango rested on a laid out blanket she packed earlier, trying to fall asleep.

Inuyasha sighed with relief as he began to hear the deep and even breathing of Sango sleeping. The real Inuyasha didn't know this but the imposter was staring straight at him and smiling.

His master's plan was going just as planned, with a few minor changes of course, but being so smart in the first place, the imposter knew that his master would eventually get what they wanted. _**Revenge.**_

With that, the fake Inuyasha closed his eyes and pretended to sleep.

~:~:~:~

Kagome had watched all of this unfold right before her eyes. Inuyasha was right when he thought that someone was watching him but little did he know it was the prisoner he was aiming to rescue.

The kidnapper had placed an all-seeing mirror in front of Kagome, who unwilling at first, but had no choice but to watch her friends fall deeper and deeper into the hole of a trap the master dug.

Kagome felt her muscles twitch with tiredness, forcing blood through her veins, keeping her alive.

"It seems like I'm always the one keeping everyone behind. I'm just extra dead-weight. I guess this is why everyone left me. They had a reason to anyway," Kagome whispered. "Now I'm putting them into greater danger just to rescue me. They never truly cared anyways. They shouldn't force themselves to rescue me since I was so unwanted."

"Ugh, you're self-pity is really quite pathetic, Kagome."

Kagome looked up at her taker with tears in her eyes.

Her kidnapper snorted. "I'm not going to offer you reassurance, but just so I can bring your hope down later, here it is."

"Think about it Kagome. If they didn't care, would they come and even _try_ to rescue you? I mean, I know that Inuyasha left you for Kikyo and I know that it was cruel of him to do so, but he is still risking his life for you. Your so-called friends knew that there wasn't a chance to return to their normal modern lives in your era since they might not get out alive, but they still chose to stay by Inuyasha's side."

The voice laughed. "It's quite ironic actually!"

With another cackle, the kidnapper disappeared once again to leave Kagome watching in pain, just waiting for Inuyasha to slip up once again.

It hurt her heart just as much to close her stinging eyes and fall into her dark abyss.

* * *

**Next chapter coming up!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	13. 12 Disobeying Orders

**It's time for Miroku to shine! Edits included.**

**OH! And one more thing, don't forget that I'm following an Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku and Shippo cycle.**

* * *

**Chapter 12**

Miroku coughed as more miasma entered into his body. His walking became stumbling, his breathing became ragged and his eye-sight became blurry. Miroku knew that if this keeps up, he would surely die.

He wasn't about to let that happen.

The sky remained dark purple as the hours passed and neither the sun nor moon could be seen from behind the thick clouds of miasma. Miroku had already lost track of time a long, long time ago but only his aching legs reminded him of the long hours he must have travelled. The road seemed endless and Miroku's hope was dimming.

Finally, Miroku collapsed in a heap of exhaustion in the middle of the road. Using what little amount of energy he had left, he dug his staff into the blood-red earth and chanted up a barrier. Miroku sat there shivering, despite the sweat that rolled down his face. He felt sick to his stomach.

Minutes became hours as Miroku sat there, weak and gradually getting worse. He didn't know how much longer he could last, let alone keep up his barrier.

Slouching, he finally collapsed onto his side, willing himself not to become unconscious or it would surely lead to his death.

More time passed and Miroku could feel his heart pounding weakly against his chest, faltering every now and then; a reminder that Death was already breathing down his neck, and that its cold, icy fingers are drawing the warmth of his body away from him.

'_Well I guess this is my farewell. I pray to Kami to watch over Sango and make sure she stays safe,' _Miroku thought as he felt the last bit of his consciousness started to slip away. _'Maybe I'll be able to watch Sango in heaven if I make it there.' _Miroku felt his eyes begin to blur as his eyelids struggled to stay open.

Miroku sighed as his barrier dissolved into nothing while he drifted into a deadly sleep.

He dreamed of Sango and how they would have spent the rest of their lives together, living happily and raising children until the end of their days. Everything would be peaceful and there wouldn't be anyone, or anything, hunting them down. No curse threatening his life, no demons attacking his household and no putting his treasured family in danger…ever.

His dream then reversed into a nightmare as he dreamed of Kagome and her fate. What was going to happen to her, or what the result of everything later would be was unclear to Miroku, but he could definitely see that they would be tested. There's always a thin line between love and trust. Even though he knew Kagome's heart was strong, it made the situation twice as urgent due to the fact that Kagome's soul has been constantly battered and hurt.

He dreamed of Inuyasha and his past, present and future. Things really had been great in the past when all of them were together. Sure, they've been through their hardships but because they were _together_ they made through it. Everything started falling apart once Kikyo was permanently brought back from the dead.

Why couldn't Inuyasha and Kagome just live happily together? Didn't Kikyo die in peace already?

Miroku twitched endlessly while dreaming, waiting for Death to come and visit him. He could already feel its cold fingers tracing over his body and resting on his neck. It sent chills up his spines and caused his goose-bumps to rise and prick his skin. It all felt so real.

Miroku snapped awake, shivering and wheezing. Breathlessly he said, "Take me Death and be done with it."

But then the icy presence of Death's finger disappeared. Miroku waited awkwardly in silence, counting every disturbed heartbeat as time ticked by.

He heard shuffling behind him. _'What demons wait for me if not Death?' _Miroku wondered as his brow scrunched up in confusion.

Then Miroku let his senses focus and finally sensed the aura of demon behind him. Why it wasn't attacking him was beyond confusing. Miroku could feel their fingers tracing over his body. It was actually an examination of whether this human monk in the middle of the road was still alive or not.

Miroku felt himself being pushed onto his back. Groaning, his eyes opened just enough to see a blurry image hovering above him. He could only figure out their silhouette but to the monk's relief, at least this mysterious demon didn't have any head abnormalities.

Unable to move, Miroku had no choice but to let the figure do as they pleased with him. Using their cold fingers to pry open his mouth wide enough to slip through a liquid that tasted like one of Kaede's bitter remedies, Miroku swallowed it without a chance for hesitation.

Once Miroku swallowed the thin medicine, his breathing came easier and his vision started to clear up. Everything still was a little hazy but it was enough for him to notice that the person aiding him was a beautiful woman maybe in her thirties with short, black hair and violet eyes. Her skin was fair and Miroku realised that it wasn't the woman glowing, but a large barrier she had conjured up. But nonetheless, because her skin was so flawless and pale, she seemed to have an internal glow despite the darkness of miasma around them.

Miroku tried moving his fingers and toes, seeing if they worked normally. His eyes were sore and it hurt him to gaze upon the woman with what seemed like glowing skin. Her face was emotionless but her violet eyes seem to swarm with hard-to-read emotions.

Miroku had to blink several times in order to focus his eyes on the woman before him.

Her mouth opened to speak. "Do you feel well enough to walk?" Her voice rang like music in Miroku's ear.

He sat up while never taking his eyes off the mysterious woman's. "Um…" his own voice was hoarse and rough compared to the melodic voice of the woman in front of him. "I think so since you so kindly helped me."

'_She's truly beautiful. Is she even human? She looks like a goddess!' _Miroku thought as the woman and he continued to stare at each other.

Finally, after what seemed only like seconds to Miroku, the divine beauty stood up and brushed off any dirt evident on her village garb saying, "Good. We should head to my home. It is not safe out here." She waited for him to stand up while he just sat there dumbly, staring up at her.

Speechless, Miroku just clumsily stumbled to his feet and removed his staff from its hole in the ground.

The two walked in silence down the road. The semi-sphere, blue barrier covered them from the smoke of miasma splitting around them as they travelled through the purple, deadly mist.

Miroku cleared his throat and opened his mouth to speak while he watched the woman's violet eyes move to watch him.

"Um, just a question but how is it that anyone can survive out here? How can you - forgive my rudeness - survive out here?" Miroku waited as he heard his own rough voice, projected louder than expected, fade into silence. The violet eyes moved back to staring at the front of the road.

More silence endured and Miroku was getting quite edgy. They have been walking for some time and he hasn't been able to see anything even close to representing shelter out here. But they were going have to stop somewhere and sometime right?

Miroku jumped as the woman's voice rung clear and perfect, finally answering his question. However it wasn't an answer he expected. Actually, it was barely an answer at all.

"I don't know."

Miroku felt his blood run cold.

Forcing his voice to stay calm, he replied, "You don't know how you've managed to survive in this place?"

He watched as the girl lightly shook her head. Miroku's eyes slightly widened in shock.

He felt something was very, very wrong here. Everything made him uneasy. How is it that someone like her, human or not, can survive when others can't? Miroku eyed the skulls lined up on either side of the road. They were definitely human skulls. His eyes snapped back to the goddess figure beside him.

'_She's not going to…kill me is she?' _Miroku thought fearfully. He couldn't stop eying those decorative skulls.

But then he remembered what Kiyoko had said when he asked her if she's heard of Kagome.

"_Do you know anyone who could have taken our friend? Her name is Kagome and she's a priestess."_

_Almost in a whisper she said, "Yes, I know…__**everyone**__ here knows." _

"_What do you mean __**everyone**__ knows?" Sango asked. _

"_Our master…the person who took your friend is our master." _

'_**Our **__master__**' **_Kiyoko had said. That could only mean that Kiyoko wasn't the only person working under the mysterious kidnapper. This woman must be in alliance with them.

'_Well at least this means I won't be killed,' _Miroku thought in relief.

Then his mind snapped into focus. He can try to find out where Kagome and the other's are! Miroku wasn't going to let his chance slip away.

"Do you happen to know who Kiyoko is?" he started.

"Yes," the woman answered plainly. "She is an acquaintance of mine."

"So that means you work under the same master."

"I'm sorry, I don't know what you are talking about."

But Miroku didn't let up. "Was it your master that sent you here to live?"

"I don't have a master. I live on my own free will."

"In this place?"

"Is there something wrong with this place?"

"You're the only living soul here where everything is dead or dying. How is it that you've managed to survive?"

"I came to this place a long time ago, when it was still green and everything lived. Then one day, I woke from my sleep and everything was like this." The woman's voice grew quiet but still maintained her monotone. "I was the only one surviving."

"How?"

After a moment of silence she said, "There was a barrier around my house and when I leave the house, a barrier forms around me."

"So you're not the one making the barriers?"

"No."

"So who makes them? How do you survive?"

"I don't know."

Miroku narrowed his eyes. _'I'm sure she's lying. She knows Kiyoko and yet she denies serving under a master.'_

"And you say you don't serve the same master as Kiyoko? Then how do you know her?"

For the first time, that woman with the violet-eyes was silent.

"I will answer your questions once we're at my house," she finally said, her voice not changing at all.

The two walked in complete silence and the monk felt really uncomfortable, for the first time, walking next to a woman. He didn't know if she was a human or a demon, or maybe even some unidentified creature, but whatever she was, Miroku didn't like the cold feeling he got while being with her.

"We're here." the woman suddenly stopped and said emotionlessly while raising a hand to point in front of her.

Under the protection of a large barrier, a simple, wooden hut stood in the center. As they approached, the house barrier merged with their little one like two soap bubbles as they walked into the territory inside the large barrier.

The woman pushed aside the straw curtain and walked inside with Miroku following close behind. But before he could say a single question, the name of his beloved slipped his lips.

"Sango!"

All thought of framing the mysterious woman was wisped away when Miroku laid his eyes on his wife, laid at the back of the room on a bamboo mat with a blanket over her. A bucket of water and a small towel rested near her feet.

Miroku felt no hesitation when he ran to Sango's side. He ran so fast that when he stopped he slid past her and into the wall beside her. Like a cat racing after a toy and crashing into the wall head-on.

Scrambling, Miroku frantically scanned his eyes across his wife's covered body. Panting, he finally caught his breath after making sure Sango was unharmed.

"You know her?"

Miroku looked up and met the piercing violet eyes of the mysterious woman. Even though she had asked a question, there was no confusion found anywhere in her expression. Her pale face remained untouched as she sat near the fire-pit.

Cautious, Miroku hesitantly told the truth. "She's my wife." Looking back to his wife's sleeping face he couldn't help but smile with relief. "Her name is Sango."

"Sango huh?" the girl whispered, barely audible. She stared at the fire as light flickered across her face. Miroku tenderly stroked Sango's hair one last time before getting up and sitting down across from the mysterious woman. Separated by the square fire-pit, alive with flames, it made the atmosphere quite eerie as their shadows danced across the walls.

"Speaking of which, what is your name?" Miroku asked.

The woman seemed startled and her face instantly showed pained emotions.

"I don't know…I don't…have a name," she whispered while looking away.

"You don't have a name?"

The woman didn't respond.

Sighing, Miroku continued. "Okay then…moving on, you said you'd answer my questions so I'm asking you, how do you know Kiyoko?"

"I'm not allowed to say the truth."

"You said you'll tell me," Miroku pointed out. "Please, tell me. I'm trying to find my friend."

"…Friend?" she whispered mutely. Miroku watched as her hands clenched the hem of her clothing.

One heartbeat…

Two heartbeats…

Three heartbeats…

"Kiyoko came to me that day I became alone," the woman said. "The day everyone else died. The day I woke from my sleep."

Miroku decided best not to say anything and continued to listen intently.

"I was scared and I didn't understand anything; why everyone was dead and only I was protected," she explained. "Then she told me…that I was the one who killed everyone."

Miroku felt his blood run cold.

"She told me…that I was a demon and not a human; that I was created and not born."

'_Haven't you realised that no one's ever called your name? That no one's even asked? That's because this world was created by my master, and you, who was also created by my master, was placed here for the time being. You were born without a name and without a meaning other than to serve my master," the little girl giggled._

_The place, once green and filled with life was filled with miasma and the decaying bodies of the people she once lived beside. The woman realised the reality with a sorrow-filled heart. Nobody had called her by a name, nor did they need to. She hadn't even realized she was missing one._

"_Who…are you?" asked the woman to the little girl. Her eyes were brimmed with tears._

"_My name is Kiyoko," she smiled. "I'll be your fellow servant from now on."_

"_But…everyone-"_

"_Is dead," Kiyoko agreed. "And you killed them."_

"_What?!"_

"_That's right. Hate to break it to you but when my master decided that it was time for her plan to take action, you were 'activated' and terminated everyone here," Kiyoko explained. "You just thought you fell asleep, but in reality, you became a killing machine," she giggled innocently._

_The woman was in torment. "But why?! Why me?!"_

_Kiyoko scoffed. "What do you mean? You were created for this purpose."_

"_But…I don't want to!"_

_The girl frowned as if something was wrong with the woman's reaction. Then she shrugged. "Oh well, too late now."_

"_Give everyone back…Give them back," she sobbed._

"_Ugh," Kiyoko slapped a hand to her forehead. "My master should've erased your memory after all. Or maybe Master should've just kept you in your activated state. Now I have to deal with this."_

_But then Kiyoko fell silent, her face giving off a distant look, like her mind was somewhere else. When her eyes focused, she nodded and said, "Yes, Master."_

_Then she turned back to the crying woman. "How about this? I just got a message from my master saying that if you work for her and once her plan is successful, you'll be freed and everyone here will be revived as long as you keep their skulls in tact."_

"_Their…skulls?"_

"_Yeah," Kiyoko nodded. "Don't you see the skeletons?" She gestured to the bones around her and indeed there were dozens littered around the miasma-filled place. _

"_O-Okay…as long as I serve your master…right?"_

_Kiyoko smiled. "__**Our **__master."_

_The woman bit her lip in silence. Finally she nodded hesitantly. "Alright…I'll do it."_

"Doesn't this mean you're being held against your will?" Miroku asked, feeling somewhat sorry for this woman.

"...What? No, you're mistaken," the violet-eyed woman said. But her voice seemed to contain doubt despite what was coming out of her mouth. "My master has promised the revival of my people in return for my cooperation."

"But even if you cooperate with your so-called master, you don't want to, right?"

Her gaze wavered. "I…I don't know what-"

"You don't seem like the heartless type of person," Miroku interrupted. This woman's words weren't exactly persuasive to her defence. "You're voice slightly shakes when you talk about your master and you look like you're on edge; as if someone's watching us. What makes you so scared?"

The beautiful woman fell silent and stared at her clenched first on her lap.

"Is it your master?"

The woman flinched, giving herself away. Miroku simply waited. Finally, after a period of silence she whispered, "I met my master eventually and honestly, I didn't know what to expect. However, the woman…no…the _thing _I met was made from pure darkness and filled with hatred."

"She didn't…hurt you, did she?"

"No, she did not," the woman replied. "But the moment I looked into her eyes I felt…I felt fear take control of my body. I was swallowed up by her gaze and could feel horror blind my senses. Every part of me screamed obedience and threatened near-death punishment if I did otherwise."

Miroku felt a chill run up his back as he listened to the woman's description. The imagery it provided wasn't exactly pleasant.

"This is why I can't go against her wishes," she explained in a low voice. "Nor can I reveal to you my master's plan…for the sake of my village."

Miroku sighed. "That explains the skulls on the road…" he murmured. "So they aren't the bones of innocent wanderers?"

"I'm not saying there aren't any," the woman replied. Miroku almost thought she sounded sad. "However I leave their corpses to the sides since the miasma will eventually erode them. I must their separate their graves from my village."

'_This woman…as gentle and innocent as she sounds, she's powerful enough to destroy an entire village with ease,' _Miroku thought. It was hard to make up his mind on what to think of this woman. Her looks are pretty persuading though…

Miroku internally shook his head. He was above his womanizing ways. But no matter whether this woman was a danger to his life or not, he was filled with genuine concern. "You don't honestly think it's possible to revive an entire village, do you?"

"She promised," the woman replied immediately, shocking Miroku with her hard tone. "Our master promised to revive them if I cooperated with her." Her expression looked like she was trying to convince herself rather than the man sitting a ways from her.

This sparked another train of thought in Miroku's mind. He pushed his concern away for now. "You keep referring to your master as a female since you're using 'she' and 'her'…am I correct?"

The woman appeared somewhat fearfully startled, the first legitimate emotion to show on her face. But to Miroku's surprise, she made no attempt to take back her words.

"Y-yes," she said hesitantly, looking away, "you are right."

"Would you be able to tell me the name of your master? Or even the motive as to why she kidnapped Kagome?" Miroku pressed. "Do you know what your master intends to do with us?"

She didn't respond until minutes later. Her voice was quiet when she spoke. "Please don't ask anymore questions. I've said…more than I'm allowed. This is beyond pressing. I'm in no position to push the boundaries of my trust with my master."

As if confirming that fact, the woman's body suddenly glowed blue and electricity travelled cruelly over her flesh. The popping noise deafened Miroku's ears and eventually, so did the woman's screams. The wind had picked up and was quickly reaching a violent stage, throwing everything in the room out of whack. Blue light illuminated the bolts of lightning travelling over the woman's body, whose violet eyes were now shut in pain.

Miroku tried to help her but when he tried touching her he was flung back to the wall from the voltage. Even when he threw sutras, they just all burned up and dissipated.

Finally, the wind died down and the pressure of the wind lowered. Everything settled and the woman collapsed into a heap on the floor, unmoving.

Miroku crawled over to her side, turning her over to check for vital signs. Her pulse was still there but her once flawless skin was blistered in several areas, pink and bubbly red with heat. Miroku cursed himself. He really could be cold-hearted sometimes.

Using the curtain that detached from the incident as a type of blanket, Miroku laid it beside Sango and rested the unconscious woman on top of it. Then, using the damp towel which had flown to the ground, Miroku patted down the burns the woman had on her already exposed skin.

Finished, Miroku let out a sigh and rested, gazing upon the two women. His gaze rested on his sleeping wife. It bothered him how undisturbed she looked at the moment. Her blanket barely had any wrinkles in them and not even her hair had a strand out of place.

But trying his best to shake it off, Miroku got up to restart the fire which had blown out during the commotion. He used this time to think to himself.

'_This woman's clearly uncomfortable with her situation with this 'master' so she's afraid to tell me anything. If she says too much, her master will most likely kill her…and I can't let that happen.' _The monk looked at the unconscious woman. _'Deadly as she is, she has importance in her life and the will to live; no different than anyone else with a purpose in life. I can't just take that away from her by mercilessly asking questions."_

The monk sighed and tended the fire, coaxing it to grow. Its heat didn't match its brilliance to Miroku's disappointment. _'I wonder if we'll ever get out of here…What is that woman planning to do with us now? If her master is willing to torture her unconscious than there wouldn't be anything against us escaping right now…right? But how to get out of here?'_

Suddenly, Miroku heard shuffling and wooden footsteps as it quickly moved around. He whipped around.

Sango was awake.

She was in her demon-slaying armour and had her sword drawn and pointed down towards the sleeping woman beside her. Miroku realised in fear that from the look in Sango's eyes, she was going to kill the violet-eyed woman.

"No!" he yelled as he jumped to his feet and began sprinting towards them.

But Miroku nearly dodged the sword that was hurling at him instead. The whoosh in his ears knew that he barely escaped the metal weapon. The sword dug deeply into the wall behind him with a thud.

Leaving his gaze from the shaking sword, he gave Sango a hurt and confused look.

But Sango's face was frantic. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was open and panting. She acted like a scared rabbit. Acting blindly, she charged at Miroku, throwing her fists with skill precision. Miroku barely dodged her attacks.

"Sango, it's me!" he yelled, finally holding her wrists firmly in his hands. Sango finally looked at him in the eyes. Her breathing calmed and he watched as she blinked once…twice…and her face finally washed over in realisation. Tears came to her eyes.

"M…Miroku!" Sango relaxed her arms and wrapped them joyfully around her husband when he freed them. Miroku breathed in Sango's smell and embraced her like he would never, ever let go. They were finally reunited.

Pulling away to look into each other's eyes, Miroku wiped away Sango's tears with his thumb. Once he was finished, he pulled her in to kiss her. Fresh tears came out of Sango's eyes as their lips met.

After finally letting go of each other and Sango used the back of her hand to wipe away the remaining tears, she looked into Miroku eyes. "I'm so glad you're okay."

Miroku smiled and brushed away a strand of hair that finally displaced. "Yeah…I'm glad you're safe too."

Then Sango pulled away, walking closer to the sword lodged into the wall. Pulling it out, she stared at the blade, her back towards her husband. "Miroku, why didn't you let me kill her?"

The monk felt a chill go down his spine at Sango's cold, uncharacteristic voice. Suddenly scared even though he didn't quite know why, Miroku walked to where Sango used to rest and took the empty sheath from the ground. "We can't kill her. It'll be against our morals to kill an innocent person."

Sango didn't take it like Miroku thought she would. Instead, she gritted her teeth and spat, "How do you know that she wasn't planning to kill us?" Sango threw her arm to point at the unconscious woman.

Miroku was quite taken aback with Sango's sudden outrage. Confused, Miroku tried to reassure her. "Well, she was the one to rescue us from that world of miasma out there when she could have just left us to die. Besides, she hasn't done anything."

"Yet," Sango laughed but not out of humour. "You're going to defend someone you barely know? This mysterious wom…an…" Sango's voice faded at the last syllable of 'woman'.

Miroku watched puzzled and panicked as Sango's eyes narrowed suspiciously at him. Her voice was thick with accusation.

"Oh I see what's going on." Sango crossed her arms. "You like her don't you? Is that the reason why you're defending her?"

Miroku felt his jaw drop open. He couldn't believe what he was suddenly hearing.

Sango scoffed. "Huh, I knew it." Her face changed to hurt. "I thought you changed Miroku. I thought that our marriage would help but I guess you're still the same womanizer you were before. Do I mean anything to you at all?"

Miroku couldn't believe his ears. "Sango, what are you talking about? I only love you! You know more than anyone else how much I've changed my ways!" He didn't understand why Sango was acting so weird.

"Don't try to sweet talk me Miroku, dear." Sango pretty much spit out the word 'dear' like it was venom. "If you don't love me just say so. You can spend your life happily with that demon over there."

Miroku could feel his heart breaking. "Sango, why are you acting like this?"

Sango refused to say anything as she turned her back towards him.

Miroku's face and heart was full of hurt as he looked down at his feet.

'_What did I do? Why is she acting like this? The Sango I know would never be like this. What happened to her?"_ Miroku thought. _'Something isn't right!'_

Broken-hearted, Miroku couldn't do anything but mumble his confusion as he walked towards her. "Look, I don't know what happened to make you act like this and I don't know what I did but we can't talk about this now. We need to do our best to find a way out of here and find Inuyasha and Shippo." He handed her sheath to her.

Sango's eyes looked down and turned back to her first position without saying anything, knowing that Miroku was right. Reaching out a hand without turning her body, she grabbed her sheath from the hand of her husband.

Suddenly another voice said, "It's time for you to go now."

Miroku turned around to see that the violet-eyed woman was awake and was sitting up. Her face was in pain as she looked upon them.

"But we don't know how." Miroku answered. "There's no way out."

The woman shook her head. "There was always a way out. I just had to wait for my master's permission to access it."

Raising both her arms in front of her, she closed her eyes and concentrated. Miroku watched as a gold mirror shimmered into existence, leaning against the opposite wall.

Opening her eyes again she dropped her arms to her lap. "You should go now."

"Like we have a choice," Miroku joked hopelessly. He turned to look at Sango who hasn't moved from her crossed arm position. She nodded but she had a hard look in her eyes.

Sango went over to where she was sleeping before to get Hiraikotsu and without saying even a thank you to the mysterious woman like she used to, she just walked straight into the mirror without any hesitation.

Miroku sighed deeply as the actions of his wife still deeply troubled him. He walked towards the mirror after reclaiming his staff but not until he glanced over at the woman. To his surprise she was staring back at him with an unreadable expression. Her deep eyes seem to search his soul.

"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked her. He eyed her visible burns.

Looking surprised at the monk's concern, she nodded. "I've…been through worse."

"I see," Miroku murmured sadly. Silence drenched them for a few long seconds. "You know," Miroku finally stuttered out, "once a life has been lost, it's basically impossible for the soul to return from the dead. There are ways to revive one that's been lost but it never turns out the way you want it to be."

Images of Kikyo appeared in Miroku's head as he spoke from experience. "You'll most likely go through a lot of pain since a life can never be truly restored…let alone an entire village of people." He looked up towards the woman who had her eyes directed on her lap. "I know those feelings you have towards your people are sincere and pure, but I wouldn't trust your master enough to enslave myself to her. Others may have died but… you're still alive after all."

It was like Kikyo vs. Kagome déjà vu all over again, Miroku sighed.

When the woman continued to sit in silence and gave no signs in replying, Miroku bid her farewell and walked towards the mirror.

"Thank you."

Miroku stopped. Looking back, he wasn't sure if his ears were working or not. To his surprise, the violet-eyed woman had finally met his eyes.

However, she dropped her gaze and stared at her hands, gripped tightly together in her lap. "For taking care of me…a stranger…and for telling me all of that…thank you."

Miroku nodded, knowing she wouldn't see it. Taking in a deep breath, Miroku turned towards the mirror and entered, feeling the wave of cold wash over him once more.

Now sitting in silence, finally alone, the woman couldn't understand why her vision was blurring or even why droplets of water were falling onto her hands.

"It has to work…she promised…I…I have to see them again…"

Unable to stop her tears, she clasped her hands over her face and sobbed in silence, all alone and trapped in her promise.

~:~:~:~

Kagome couldn't help but cry in frustration as she watched Miroku go through all that has happened. She watched every bit of it. Not to mention that she could also watch her kidnapper manipulate her slave since it was both happening in front of her.

Sweat dripped down Kagome's face as she became more and more tired. Her anger grew even more the past few hours while she watched Miroku helplessly. Now, she was almost at her peak.

Her abductor sighed in both relief and frustration as Miroku passed through the mirror.

Kagome laughed. It sounded strange to her ears. "Having trouble controlling your slaves?"

The mysterious master snapped her head towards Kagome in anger. In a flash, Kagome felt her head being thrown to the side and her cheek stinging from the slap. The ring the master was wearing scratched Kagome's face and left a deep gash across her face.

What the violet-eyes woman said was true. Her master was indeed a woman; a woman whose powers were growing thanks to Kagome.

The chains glowed once more as the echo of the slap spread through the darkness. Groaning from the lack of control on her anger, Kagome felt her body heat up from the built up rage. It's been so long since Kagome was captured and torn apart by that master. That evil woman waited for almost a month until she broke Kagome's fighting soul. Well, it wasn't hard of course thanks to Inuyasha but Kagome kept denying it. After one month was up she finally sent the notice to Inuyasha.

Little did the group know it but they had already been visiting different realms for about a week now. Kagome was lucky that she had managed to control her anger for so long. Her head was already heated to a point when common sense was past the point of no return.

"Hmm…if you're going to get angry when I hurt you then I should do it more often." The voice cackled at their joke.

"You're almost there Kagome. You're soul is almost dark. Remember the Sacred Jewel? You're soul is ending up just like that. Bit by bit, you're adding tainted pieces to your battered soul and soon, everything will be engulfed by darkness. Then you can finally take your revenge with my help! Aren't you happy Kagome that you can finally get your revenge against Inuyasha? Hmm? Aren't you happy?"

When Kagome didn't say anything, the voice laughed. "That's it Kagome, don't fight it. We're almost there. Then my plan will finally be complete!"

Her laughing echoed around them and in Kagome's head.

'_Inu…yasha…'_

Kagome still couldn't say his name as her heart became darker every minute, tainted with fear, hurt and anger. Engulfed with a heated headache and fever filled body, she felt her heart beat painfully against her wishes.

* * *

**Yes, I changed the violet-eyed woman completely, but I feel much better now that I've changed her image. Don't you?**

**Hope you like everything so far!**

**Yours truly,**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	14. 13 Limits of Freedom

**Here's the edited version! **

**Shippo's Recap ~ He discovered that there were two Inuyasha's and he went after them heading east.**

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**Chapter 13**

"Ow…" mumbled Shippo as he sat down on a fallen tree and rubbed his sore paws. He had been running without stopping as long as he could after Inuyasha and Sango…and the other Inuyasha. But when night had fallen, Shippo just couldn't take it anymore and collapsed tiredly on the next solid thing he laid eyes on.

"I'll pick things up when morning comes." Shippo sighed as he fell back on the rotting trunk. He stared up into the stars, twinkling and winking back at him. He was in a clearing and in the middle of a moon bath as he lay underneath a circular clear-out of trees. This, however, gave Shippo a very bare feeling as he was lying open and in clear sight of potential danger. The dark forest surrounded him ominously.

"Kagome…" Shippo murmured worriedly. "I hope you're alright." Shippo's emerald eyes seemed to glow as it reflected back the stars' beauty. Then, weary, Shippo closed them and hoped to survive the night.

Suddenly, he heard a twig snap. Some bushes rustled and shuffling was heard. Shippo immediately, but sleepily, sat up to attention. A familiar scent reached his sensitive nose.

Looking at the source of the sound, he saw a figure move swiftly to hide behind a tree. The sound of fallen leaves didn't silence. Whoever it was, they weren't particularly good at staying still.

As Shippo walked hesitantly closer, he was certain of his guess. Shippo relaxed.

"Kiyoko, is that you?" Shippo asked.

An audible gasp was heard. _Now_it was completely silent. The pause had become so long, Shippo had thought she had disappeared again. He sighed and was planning to go back to lounging on the rotting log again when he heard another shuffle. Shippo felt his heart swell hopefully.

He watched as a violet eye peaked out from behind the tree trunk. He couldn't help but smile as Kiyoko fully stepped out from her hiding spot looking rather bashful and ashamed. Her yellow dress swung loosely around her knees.

Shippo walked up to her boldly and looked up at her. She was of course taller than the little fox-demon unless he transformed. But Kiyoko was perfectly fine of liking Shippo as a little kitsune. It wasn't like it was hard to like him in that form.

"So what are you doing here, Kiyoko?" Shippo asked while looking puzzled.

Kiyoko, thinking about her embarrassment of getting caught was scrambling to answer. _'I wanted to see you! I wanted to make sure you were okay!'_Kiyoko wanted to say. Biting her tongue from saying the wrong things she let it go to hastily say, "My orders are to watch the progress of you and your friends." She mentally let out a sigh of relief. It was partially true after all.

Shippo's face brightened even further. "You know where my friends are now?" The blue-haired girl nodded. "Are they okay? Are all of them still alive?" The girl nodded again with the look of amusement in her eyes as she watched Shippo spill out questions excitedly. Kiyoko smiled slightly.

"Can you tell me where they are?" Shippo blurted. Kiyoko smile immediately faltered and Shippo saw the look on her face.

Composing herself quickly, Kiyoko closed her eyes and shook her head sadly. "Shippo, you know I can't."

Shippo nodded. "Yeah, I know. I don't know why I even bothered asking. Maybe I got my hopes up thinking that you could at least tell me where everyone is."

The two stood there for a while looking at each other a little awkwardly. Meanwhile, Kiyoko was trying to find something to say, but it was hard with Shippo's beautiful eyes grasping her heart. Shippo was actually feeling the same thing. Kiyoko's violet eyes looked endless and so enticing. It drew Shippo towards her with every look and glance.

The two lost track of time as both their eyes wandered across each other's faces in awe but Kiyoko felt her temperature drop suddenly, causing her to shiver and remember reality. She untangled her eyes and soul from Shippo's and looked down at the ground.

Not knowing what to say she mumbled, "I'm sorry."

Shippo looked confused for a second but then remembered that she was apologising for her limits of freedom of telling him information about his friends' progress. He sighed. "It's not your fault and I'm not really worried about them. They can take care of themselves…it's Kagome I'm worried about."

Kiyoko felt her heart stop as she flinched at the mention of Kagome's name. Shippo took no notice. "I'm worried about how we're going to save her and what she'll do after. She's been hurt really badly by Inuyasha." Shippo said his friend's name a little bitterly. He looked down at his feet again. "That idiot. He never seems to understand that Kagome loves him so much. Why does he have to be so stubborn?"

Kiyoko absent-mindedly nodded. She was actually thinking of her feelings to Shippo. "Sometimes, people can't see what's right in front of them before it's too late." Kiyoko's voice was soft and floated from her mouth, barely reaching Shippo's ears. "What did you say?" Shippo brought his head back to face Kiyoko's.

She blushed and turned away, her expression saddened. "N-nothing, nothing…"

She sighed softly. _'Will you be able to find out before it's too late? Will I be able to_tell_you?'_Kiyoko's hands became fists as she fought her feelings.

"Um…do you want to sit?"

Kiyoko snapped out of her daze and glanced at Shippo who was tapping his little hands together shyly. A blush had settled on his cheeks. Kiyoko smiled and agreed. Chuckling nervously, Shippo lead her to the fallen tree trunk in the middle of the clearing and sat down. Kiyoko sat down beside him. Neither of them said anything.

None of them, however, acknowledged the silence since they were both too lost in their thoughts. Shippo continued thinking about Kagome and Kiyoko was worrying about her fate. Her master wanted revenge and would stop at nothing to get it.

Kiyoko was her master's first creation and was brought up with loyalty and obedience. Even though Kiyoko was grateful to her master for creating her and all, it wasn't easy serving her. Like Kiyoko had said before, Inuyasha and his group weren't the first people to run by them. Every time it happened, and it's usually by accident, Kiyoko would be in charge of leading those wanderers to their doom. Inuyasha wasn't an exception. Now that the situation was personal, her master was going out of her way to make sure no one leaves her domain alive or without punishment.

Kiyoko glanced at Shippo who was staring up into the sky. She can't let Shippo die, thought Kiyoko. After all those years of killing, Kiyoko's gotten weary. At first, she was a killing machine and quite frightful. She would laugh when the victims screamed and get angry if they didn't fall into her traps. Kiyoko was a trap master. She would use her young appearance to have others do what she wanted them to do, acting out of innocence. She would love the scent of blood on her hands and the thrill of watching people die. But now, Kiyoko didn't want to do it anymore. It's like she had aged internally and was now nothing but a weak grandmother, who grew out of her striving, teenage years of enjoyment. But there was no way that she could tell her master.

Shippo looked over at Kiyoko and this time, their eyes met. Shippo saw the age, sadness, anger and hopelessness in her violet eyes. He felt like this time, when her eyes entrapped his soul, she was reaching out for him, pleading for help. But Shippo thought he was imagining things so when Kiyoko looked away, he rubbed his eyes and blamed his sleepiness.

Kiyoko wasn't the only one who thought they were helpless. Shippo was feeling quite down when he thought about Kagome's situation. All the pain of the past was now returning to him. The feeling of guilt for leaving Kagome, the anger at Inuyasha for breaking her heart and the self hatred for being so selfish. He blamed himself for being nothing more than a weak and puny fox-demon.

"Is…Kagome still alive?" Shippo's voice trembled but he felt like his voice was being bull-horned into the atmosphere. Kiyoko started, and then focused her attention to Shippo, turning her body to face him.

"Yes, she is." Kiyoko fidgeted with her fingers.

Shippo didn't relax. "You're not planning to…to kill her are you?"

Kiyoko began to chew her bottom lip. "…I'm…not sure…" Shippo whipped his head around to face Kiyoko. The two held on to each other's eyes.

"Oh, please don't kill her Kiyoko! It's not like Kagome did anything wrong!" Shippo pleaded with the demon girl.

Kiyoko looked away and avoided Shippo's piercing green eyes. Her voice was no softer than a breeze. "It's not my decision to make."

"But you don't want her to die do you?" Shippo became alarmed and began to panic slightly.

"Well…it's not like I know her…"

Shippo's voice shook with fear. "You…you won't be the one…to kill her…right?"

Kiyoko's posture sagged "I…will listen to whatever my master commands." Kiyoko winced at her thoughts.

'_If my master asks of it, I will do as she wishes...even if it means killing your friend.'_

"Please Kiyoko, if you don't want her to die than you can do something about it!" Shippo was grasping at any way to stop Kiyoko from bringing Kagome, and everyone else, to their deaths.

"I have no choice than to listen to my orders. I can't disobey my master." Kiyoko completely turned her head away from Shippo's gaze.

"Don't you want to help us?" Shippo was starting to get angry and frustrated and so was Kiyoko.

"Of course I do! But I have to follow my orders!"

"So you're just going to listen to your _master_?" Shippo fumed. He barely gets angry but he felt so confused! "You're just going to follow your master around like a dog?" Shippo regretted spilling those words but he was hurt that even Kiyoko would kill Kagome just because someone else told her to. "You don't have to listen to your master! You can make your own choices!"

Kiyoko whipped her face back around to face Shippo and her face held such ferocity that Shippo leaned back a bit in case she was going to spit acid or something. Her voice wasn't loud but her tone certainly sounded like acid. "Well what do you expect me to do, huh?"

Shippo softened his voice. "You can help me." Kiyoko turned her attention to a blade of grass in front of her that now suddenly seemed more interesting. Shippo continued. "You can tell me how to rescue Kagome and well…stay alive."

"I…I'm sorry Shippo…I can't help you. Even I don't know what my master has planned for you."

Shippo groaned in frustration but his hope sparked. "But you can find out right? Your master trusts you so you can find out."

Kiyoko sighed in exasperation. "No Shippo, don't you understand? It's because of that trust that I can't help you. If I break that trust then I'll become the enemy. My master has control over me and my loyalty is with my master. If I do anything against that, my master will do nothing to stop me from being destroyed with you and your friends. I'll be killed!" Fear dominated her violet eyes and Shippo saw that…but his anger did not subside and not even a hint of sympathy was evident. Kiyoko's eyes changed in confusion.

"But isn't helping us more important? Would you rather see people die over and over again than make an effort to stop it? Inuyasha, Miroku and Sango are risking their lives to save Kagome because they care about her! I care about her! I wouldn't just give up and leave her to die!"

"Well maybe because you're not scared!" Kiyoko fought back. Shippo pushed his breath out in a huff of disbelief.

"You think I'm not scared? We're all scared! I'm sure Inuyasha doesn't want to lose Kagome; Miroku doesn't want her to die and neither does Sango! Kagome was like a mother I never had so of course I don't want her to die!" Shippo looked down at his feet. "I always feel like I can't do anything because I'm only a small and weak guy…but I'm not just going to give up and leave Kagome alone!" Shippo trembled in anger. He boldly looked Kiyoko square in the eyes.

"I know you might not care about us, whether we die or not, but I know that you don't want to kill anyone anymore! You don't want to listen to your master, right? So maybe as long as you're not the ones killing us you can be freed! But the problem is that you're not doing anything!" Shippo bit his bottom lip to stop trembling. "But at least we're doing something about it!"

Kiyoko drew in a sharp intake of air. "You think I don't care about you…guys? I hate seeing people die and I don't want anything to do with it! But I also have my own life to think about, don't I?"

Shippo looked shocked and beyond hurt and Kiyoko had tears hanging from her eyes. Shippo suddenly looked disappointed and looked back down at his feet. "Kiyoko…"

The little girl held her breath.

Shippo continued. "Kiyoko…how can you be so selfish?"

Kiyoko's gasp was audible as she choked on the air she was holding in. She let her tears go over. She stared at Shippo's scrunched up face. He didn't open his eyes for his own eyes held trembling tears.

Kiyoko was shocked into stillness. "S…selfish?"

Shippo's eyes didn't open as he spoke with a trembling voice. "H…how can y-you think only about yourself even though you say that you care about us? If you did care, you would at least help us!" His head remained bowed. "Don't you know that you're just being selfish?" Shippo's tiny hands were clenched into fists as he pressed down on his knees, ducking his head in between his hunched up shoulders.

Kiyoko tilted her head to look up into the night sky, letting her tears tickle her ears as gravity changed their course. Even though they were going through this, she couldn't bring herself to hate Shippo. But it was sure that he hated her now…

The blinking of the stars looks menacing now. They looked like they were laughing at her and mocking her limit of freedom.

Silence filled the air as Shippo fought back choking sobs. His eyes hurt from being squeezed too long. When he finally calmed down, he let his eyes open a slit and he stared at his little fists that were now sweaty and sore. He sighed a shaking sigh.

"Hey…Kiyoko…I'm sorry for saying everything I said. I was just really angry. I…just thought…that…maybe you could help me." he sighed again. "I'm sorry."

No response.

"You can be mad at me. It's not your fault. None of this is your fault. I'm sorry I blamed you."

Still no response.

"Kiyoko?" Shippo finally looked up to where Kiyoko had been but stared into nothing but the trees beyond.

Kiyoko was gone.

~:~:~:~

"Ha ha ha ha! This is just wonderful! Absolutely splendid!" The voice in the darkness woke Kagome up from her daze.

Kagome glared at the figure. "What's so great?" The figure walked closer to Kagome, placing one foot in front of the other like a prowling predator, studying its prey.

"Well I'm glad you asked, my dear Kagome, because it seems like Kiyoko – you remember her right – has fallen in love with your dear little Shippo." The creator took some time to laugh some more. "But you know Kagome, love is complicated and can never go on very long without arguments rising to the occasion, am I right?"

Kagome stared into her all-seeing mirror with Shippo trying to sleep in its reflection. "Well then, how is that good news? Kiyoko can just choose to fight against you, couldn't she?"

The face of Kagome's capturer darkened into a sneer. "Oh, she wouldn't dare. I have her life in her hands and she is indebted to me. If she does anything against me, she'll die. But as I watched her little debate with that fox-demon, I find her loyalty a little sickening sweet." The sneer turned into a cruel smile. She was scheming alright. "As for that crush of hers, I can always use it sooner or later." Another cold laugh echoed.

Of course Kagome remembered Kiyoko. The little girl with a dark-blue hair bob and violet eyes had two horns on top of her head quite like Inuyasha's puppy dog ears. Kiyoko was the one bringing Kagome her food. Sometimes the two would talk when they had nothing else to do. Kagome knew that Kiyoko wanted to rebel against her master but she just never had the guts to. It became even more apparent when Kagome was watching the argument between the little girl and Shippo.

But Kagome was thinking less and less as her anger was causing her to just boil. The feeling of internal heat of rage was just dying to be let out. Almost like it was pushing outwards from inside Kagome's body. The expression 'feeling like you're about to burst' was no understatement to Kagome's situation.

"You're time has almost arrived Kagome. When Inuyasha and the others reach this place, it'll be the time for us to take action. We'll have our revenge and you…" The woman laughed hysterically. "You can rest in peace!"

Kagome stared wide-eyed at the woman. "What?" Kagome felt her anger boil even though she was more shocked than angry. But the glow sustained by the chains weren't going away and it was doing its job really well. As it fed its master power it also milked more anger into Kagome's blood.

"What are you planning to do?!" Kagome yelled.

"Oh, I have no intentions to keep you alive Kagome…unless you prove of some use to me. But then again, I can be more powerful if you're by my side. Oh well," she tossed her hair behind her, "I'm still deciding after all."

Cackling, the figure disappeared, leaving Kagome to struggle against the chains hopelessly in the dark once again.

* * *

**Didn't change much here, but hope it's all coming back to you now! It's been so long after all ;A;**

**Forever,**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	15. 14 Spoken Past and Uncovered Identities

**After finishing with the edits in this chapter, I can finally continue the story! I'm still having trouble writing the rest, however, but I'll try my best to make it interesting and to your liking!**

* * *

**Chapter 14**

Inuyasha woke up from his restless sleep. His eye-lids felt heavy and his head was groggy. The sun was barely peeking above the horizon but the sky had already turned pink with its light. One by one as the sun's rays surfaced, Inuyasha blinked himself awake and glanced over to the group he was stalking.

The campfire was now degraded into ashes and Sango was still asleep, breathing soundly and safely. Inuyasha envied her peacefulness. He, number one, didn't deserve it, and two, he had too much on his mind to even calmly breathe. Inuyasha cracked his sore neck and retied Tessaiga to his belt. He didn't even know why he still removed it at night and leaned it against his shoulder while he crossed his arms around it. After all, it didn't work anymore. He guessed that it was a habit that just didn't go away, even after so many years. Inuyasha dismissed the thought warily.

Looking back, Inuyasha's mind went crazy when he saw that his imposter was no longer there.

'_Shit!'_Inuyasha cursed as he scrambled to his feet. Pouncing silently, he pushed off his branch and landed on the ground, following the scent of his imposter that had continued to head forward along the forest. Inuyasha gritted his teeth in frustration. How could he let it slip past him? It's not like he was sleeping, after all.

The scent became stronger as Inuyasha continued his chase. He hadn't run very far until he came into a clearing. The trees were parted and the clearing was a field that had long, rich blades of grass, wet with the morning dew. The sun was fully in the sky now and the sky had turned its natural blue.

Inuyasha could smell storm clouds in the distance, getting closer to their location. Not a single wind had stirred the deep forests since his wake-up call and this irritated the hanyou immensely. The silence was thick and not a single thing stirred.

"So, you came after all. Took you long enough," Inuyasha heard himself say. But his lips haven't moved and his throat didn't vibrate like it does after speaking.

Then he realized it was because he wasn't the one who said it.

Inuyasha's head snapped towards the sound. It came from the opposite side of the field and further to his left. There, standing with his arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his face, was Inuyasha. Not the real one though – his imposter.

The smirk on his identical face grew into a wide grin. "I never thought that you would be able to make it as far as discovering my fake identity and even following us all this way. I guess my master's going too easy on you." But then he shrugged. "No matter. I'll see to it that I have my chance at fun."

Inuyasha barred his teeth. "Who are you? Where is Kagome?!" He drew his hands into fists, his nails digging into his palm.

His clone yawned mockingly. "My, my you do have a lot of questions don't you?" The man sighed. "What happens to that weird priestess is none of my concern. I don't care. My only intention is to fight with you." At this, the imposter smiled, as if excited to be battling to the death.

Inuyasha snarled and glared at himself…the one standing in front of him that is. He yelled across the field, "I have no intentions on fighting anyone including you. But you took Kagome and that's something I can never forgive anyone for!"

The clone Inuyasha laughed cruelly and charged without another word, a mean smile still plastered on his face and his crazed eyes glittering in the morning sun.

Inuyasha instinctively threw his hand to his waist, only to discover that he was at a disadvantage when his sword refused to be drawn out, bound by sutras and rope.

Frowning at the sudden memory jolt, Inuyasha turned back and jumped backwards, barely missing the blow his opponent aimed at him, splitting the ground underneath his air-born feet.

The attacks kept coming, again and again. Over and over Inuyasha dodged each blow, each one closer than next.

As the poser chased the hanyou deeper into the forest opposite than the one the camp was back at, Inuyasha flipped, turned and pushed off an incoming tree and flew straight back towards his surprised imposter with only his claws in his offence.

"Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!" Inuyasha cried. Strands of silver hair drifted to the ground as the other Inuyasha rolled to the side in mid-air with the real Inuyasha flying past with his arm out-stretched. He landed and skidded across the earth, leaving dust in his wake. The other one landed on the ground and pushed right back up into the tree that Inuyasha had just pushed off. Both of them were panting.

"That was too close. I have to hand it to you, you almost got me there," the Inuyasha in the tree said, smiling and dusting off his kimono. He chuckled.

The one on the ground scoffed. "You're lucky you can have my body because that way, you have my abilities." Inuyasha shifted back into his battle stance. "But that also means you have my weaknesses," he said, charging.

The man on the tree disappeared right before Inuyasha hit his mark. With a thunderous cracking noise, the thick branch of the tree fell to the ground, leaves scattering all over the place. But even so, not a single animal stirred. No birds flew to the sky, squawking, and no critters tittered away, frightened.

With his sensitive nose, Inuyasha followed his own moving scent, as if tracking himself down. He turned his head behind him to find himself looking at the back of…well…himself. Inuyasha growled and ran after him, his white hair flying behind him.

"Come back here you coward! Are you running away?" Inuyasha sped up his pace. They re-entered the clearing and the fake Inuyasha jumped to the other side. The two of them stopped and faced each other from across the span of the meadow.

"So, have you decided to give up now?" Inuyasha retorted with his ever so smart-ass mouth.

The other replied, "Huh, in your dreams."

The two stared intensely at each other, eyes narrowing as they studied each other's moves. When Inuyasha noticed the other Inuyasha reach to his side, he braced himself for the attack. But none came.

Inuyasha watched confused, although not showing it, at his enemy. A sly, evil smile appeared on the unknown imposter's face. Inuyasha watched as his opponent gripped the hilt of a sword that looked frighteningly similar to his own and began to pull it out.

Now Inuyasha didn't even try to hide his shock.

From across the field, in his enemy's hand was Tessaiga. The large, fang-like blade glinted in the sun and it gave off an enormous yokai (demon) aura, darker than the one given off by the original.

"There's one thing that's different about you and me, Inuyasha." The real Inuyasha transported his eyes to watch his identical face, which now had an evil sneer, rather than the Tessaiga. The imposter continued. "I have the Tessaiga where you on the other hand, don't." A loud growling noise erupted from deep within Inuyasha's throat. The imposter laughed at his reaction. "Blame yourself for dumping that priestess. You made the wrong decision into going with that other dead priestess. You caused your own demise. So now, you're going to die by your own sword."

Inuyasha retorted, "That's not my Tessaiga. It's just a worthless imitation."

The clone chuckled darkly. "Well then…if you think it's such a fake, then taste my Wind Scar!"

The ground trembled and rumbled forcefully. Blades of light spanned out towards the unarmed Inuyasha and dug its imprints into the ground, splitting the earth. Trying to avoid the tremendous wave of energy, Inuyasha jumped to the side and soared as high as he could through the air. Landing back down, only a few feet away from the scars across the ground, Inuyasha studied with shock at the marks drawn over the earth.

"What the-"

"I told you so."

Inuyasha turned his head back to his nemesis that was smirking proudly but looked drained.

The man continued and raised his arm to point the Tessaiga at Inuyasha. "Now you have no chance," he smiled.

~:~:~:~

Sango woke up to a huge crashing noise that was quite distant but loud enough for her to hear. She was already dressed in her demon slayer's outfit so she leaving her sleeping bag she scrambled to her feet, grabbed her weapon and studied the place, on guard.

The camp was empty. Inuyasha was gone and there was no trace of him. Maybe Sango had imagined him in the first place?

A bright light and a giant rumble shook to her right. Sango looked up and saw a cloud of dust roll up into the air. Was that the Wind Scar? Something told her that she hadn't imagined Inuyasha last night, but where was he now? It was time to investigate.

Sango shouldered Hiraikotsu and ran towards the chaos. The distance wasn't very far from the camp but Sango still had to pant for air in order to breathe. She had to admit that she was out of shape.

She shielded her eyes as she entered a large clearing that she believed was the source of the attacks.

~:~:~:~

Inuyasha gripped his injured arm. His imposter had managed to nip at his right arm and now it refused to move, as if paralysed by a measly cut. Inuyasha growled in frustration.

'_How is he able to wield the Tessaiga? It's not real! It can't be real!'_Inuyasha's head was painfully throbbing due to the number of times he crashed to the ground after making his moves.

"Heh, had enough yet?"

Inuyasha glared across the field at his clone who was smiling at his pain. "Not on your life." Inuyasha retorted back.

"Good, because I'm not even close to-…" The Inuyasha–like imposter suddenly shut off his speech and stood up attentively from his attack stance. Inuyasha relaxed slightly in confusion. The clone sniffed at the air and his eyes were distant, as if in deep thought. The white ears on the top of his head twitched. Inuyasha became frustrated at his sudden drawback.

"What's with the hold up?" he yelled. The other Inuyasha completely ignored him and without hesitation, sheathed his Tessaiga. Inuyasha stood up fully in both rage and sheer confusion. What the blazes is he doing?

Blinking once, the other Inuyasha slashed into his right arm, making it hang limp at his side. The only feeling shown on his face was the slight wince on his features because of the pain of his arm.

"What the…?" Inuyasha gaped at his enemy. Did he just do what he thought he did? The ferociousness of battle disappeared from the clone's face and his eyes softened. The over exaggerated look of pain covered it instead. And although Inuyasha tried to get his attention, the clone seemed completely oblivious to his curses and name calling. Instead, Inuyasha's intruder was looking at a point behind Inuyasha's body.

Even though Inuyasha was confused, he wasn't confused for much longer.

"Inuyasha?"

A confused, female voice reached his sensitive ears. He saw for a brief moment before he turned to look behind him his other self's vision finally, really focus. Inuyasha whipped his head around.

Sango stood at the edge of the forest, just past the trees, not far from where he was standing. Her arm was raised, holding her Hiraikotsu is defence. Her face held obvious confusion as her gaze switched between both Inuyashas.

"Inu…yasha…?" Sango didn't know who to look at when repeating her friend's name. Why were there two of him?

The one furthest from her spoke first. "Don't pay attention to the other guy Sango, he's the imposter. I was just about to finish him off."

The Inuyasha closest to her turned his body from her to the other him. "Who are you calling imposter? You're the one who was travelling with Sango the night before, not me."

The other Inuyasha replied back not to his opponent but to Sango. "Don't listen to him Sango, he's lying to you."

The closer Inuyasha growled. "Why you!" He launched himself at his other self.

Sango's head started to spin. She repeatedly looked back between the two fighting hanyou's. It wasn't helping that they were fighting and constantly jumping around. Sango thought long and hard at whom to aim her Hiraikotsu at.

Both Inuyashas were injured and none of them had their Tessaiga out. But Sango stared at the long, claw-like marks dug into the ground beside her.

'_One of them must have created the Wind Scar,'_Sango thought. She continued to study the fighting men. She only had her previous experiences to depend on as evidence.

~:~:~:~

'_No…no…please...no…'_

Kagome watched her love fight his imposter, created and enslaved by none other than their master.

"You have to…to stop fighting." Kagome whispered, panting from her struggling to keep her sanity alive before…before…

'_Before my soul becomes overcome with evil.' _Kagome grunted against the built up in heat inside her body.

Her anger had already flared when Inuyasha got injured on his right arm. Kagome was still…barely….hanging on to whatever consciousness she had left so that her anger could be kept under control. But Kagome herself knew that she was slowing slipping. Soon, she wouldn't be able to control her body and her soul would become tainted.

"Oh? You still have some fight left don't you?" Kagome glared at her kidnapper as she laughed. She was also watching the events unfold, her face glowing with power…Kagome's power.

The anger and evil flowing in Kagome's veins was what the master of the dimensions fed off on.

Kagome suddenly let out an inhuman growl as Inuyasha fell yet again to the ground. She was helpless and hopeless. Sweat stuck to her skin and it dripped off her chin. Grimy and frustrated at her powerlessness, Kagome wasn't helping her situation. Not to mention with the coil of anger already built up from long before when she was just kidnapped.

The master smiled evilly as she watched Kagome's reactions.

'_Soon…very…very…soon…'_

~:~:~:~

"Sango, wait up!" Miroku called after his wife who was running ahead of him at full speed, like she was racing someone and was trying to run with everything she's got. Miroku stared at his wife's back. Not a single wrong step, or trip, not even her pace wavered from time to time. Sango ran like a robot through the forest, leaping and jumping over roots and trees, avoiding giant trunks and bushes without so much as a blink.

When Sango didn't respond, Miroku mistook it as anger. He sighed tiredly. "Are you still angry at me Sango? I already told you that I didn't do anything!" With no response, only the sound of Miroku's jingling staff ringed throughout the forest.

Sango has been like this ever since the strange occurrence that happened when they had stepped out of the mirror. Suddenly, A bright light and a huge earthquake shook the earth. Miroku saw a huge ball of dirt and dust shoot up into the sky. The demonic power he sensed couldn't have been right, could it?

Miroku had sensed the Wind Scar.

'_But Inuyasha's Tessaiga had been dormant ever since the well got sealed!'_

Miroku remembered the incident like it was yesterday. They had just passed through the well and were gaping at Kagome's home and their surroundings, curious as new born puppies.

"_This place is amazing!" Sango gasped as she walked around in a daze._

"_I'll say," Miroku agreed as he stood at the top of the stairs that led down towards the street. Cars drove by and the sight of thousands of rooftops shimmered under the afternoon sun._

"_Those metal things are moving!" Shippo perched on Miroku's shoulder and hid behind his neck, voice trembling as he pointed down towards the street._

"_Indeed," Miroku laughed and turned to look at his wife who had joined him by his side. He smiled at her._

"_Sango," he said as he took both her hands and gazed into her light brown eyes. "We can finally start a new life here. We can build a future peacefully." But Sango only smiled sadly, her eyes showed no signs of happiness that it showed before._

_Miroku sensed her sadness and squeezed her hands in comfort. She returned his smile sadly. They turned to look at Inuyasha._

_He and Kikyo were standing at the doorway of the shrine, gazing outwards to their surroundings. Kikyo's face showed no emotion as usual, but the sadness on Inuyasha's face was more than evident as he looked around, Kagome taunting his every thought. He was the one most familiar with the surroundings after all._

_Everything was Kagome to him. Her house, her bike left by the side of the house never to be used again, the Sacred Tree, the smell of home-cooking filling the air…everything. Inuyasha couldn't ignore the stabbing pains in his chest as he looked up towards the window that lead to Kagome's bedroom, oh-so familiar to him. Her window was open, probably by her mother to air out the room and Inuyasha could smell her scent even from where he was standing. Her natural aroma was overpowering his senses and Inuyasha felt his eyes drift close as he inhaled the air through his nose as much as he could._

_The smell was so strong, Inuyasha felt as if Kagome was right there beside him right now, becoming his wife…holding his hand…calling his name…_

_But the voice calling his name was wrong, and there was no warmth in the hand he now held in his. _

_Inuyasha's eyes snapped open. He looked down beside him and into Kikyo's blank but slightly concerned face._

"_Inuyasha, I called your name several times now. Is everything okay?" Kikyo looked slightly annoyed. _

_Inuyasha tried to smile but it felt sour. He lifted a hand to brush away her bangs tenderly. "I'm okay. I was just thinking how lucky I am to have you here with me again." Inuyasha felt guilty for lying to his wife, but he couldn't just tell her that he was just thinking about Kagome!_

_Kikyo smiled. "You're so silly." Inuyasha chuckled softly at her tease._

_Miroku, Sango and Shippo were walking back towards them when a door was heard being slid shut. They all looked towards the house. Inuyasha's heart sank._

_It was Kagome's mother walking out of the house with a basket in her arms, probably going grocery shopping. As she turned she noticed the group of them standing at the doorway of the shrine. Inuyasha watched as she scanned the group, eyes curious. When she made eye contact with Inuyasha, she smiled kindly and walked towards him. Inuyasha let go of Kikyo's hand and walked to meet her, hands sweating with fear._

"_Inuyasha, I'm glad to see that you're well." Kagome's mother smiled warmly. Inuyasha tried his best to smile back without making it look forced. _

_She looked over his shoulder at his group of friends behind him. "And who are they? Kagome's friends? I've never seen them before."_

_Inuyasha lead her to them, introducing them to Kagome's mother. She smiled to every one of them and bowed as she greeted them. Then…they turned to Kikyo._

_Inuyasha felt his breath hitch inside his throat. "This is Kikyo…my…wife." Kagome's mother didn't waver but her face had a surprised expression. It was gone in a moment, covered by a warm smile. Kikyo smiled and greeted her with kindness._

_Kagome's mother then looked back to Inuyasha and asked, "Where's Kagome? Did she not come back with you?" _

_Inuyasha flinched and felt his heart couldn't meet her eyes. "She…decided to stay in the Feudal Era." Although the conversation was between Inuyasha and Kagome's mother, the other four bodies stood there and gazed at them, all eyes but one pair held sorrow._

_Kagome's mother raised a hand to lightly rest on her chin and stared at the ground, as if in thought, her arm propped with the other arm wrapped around her waist. "Oh," she whispered. "I see." Inuyasha smiled shyly, hoping that she would understand._

_After a moment of silence, she looked back up into Inuyasha's eyes and smiled. "Well I hope that you'll be happy here, Inuyasha. I'm sure Kagome would want that too." Saying her good-byes to the rest of the group, she walked down the stairs and into the streets without looking back._

_Only the sound of birds chirping could be heard over the silence. The wind rustled the leaves of the Sacred Tree and Inuyasha could only smell Kagome all around him. He cursed in frustration. Why can't he just move on already! He already got what he wanted!_

_Kikyo, not Kagome._

"_Inuyasha?" Kikyo's voice made Inuyasha snap his head in her direction. She was still standing at the doorway to the shrine. It's like she hadn't moved since they came here. Inuyasha walked to her and stood in front of her. She walked towards him and circled her arms around his chest and rested her hands on his back, bringing herself closer to him. "I forgot some of my things back in our time. Can you go get them for me?" Inuyasha sighed and squeezed his wife in their embrace, holding her close to him. Although he absolutely did not want to go back, he agreed._

_He let his wife go and could feel his friends' eyes on his back as he re-entered the shrine. With a deep breath, he jumped back into the well._

_Miroku, Sango and Shippo watched nervously. 'He's actually going back?' they thought. They exchanged worried glances as Inuyasha hopped from the ledge of the well._

"_What the-?"_

_They all snapped back to inside the shrine in hearing Inuyasha's shocked voice. Everyone except Kikyo rushed inside and surrounded the well. They stared inside._

_There he was, standing on the bottom of the well staring at the dirt end in shock. No bright light, no transport, nothing._

'_I wasn't transported?' Inuyasha thought. He felt his heart speed up, panicking. Fear dominated his thoughts._

"_Inuyasha, what happened?" Miroku's voice echoed around him in the deep well. Inuyasha looked up to see the concerned faces of his three friends. Miroku noticed how distraught Inuyasha looked when he looked up at him._

_His group of friends stepped back a few steps to allow Inuyasha to jump back up. All of them looked at Inuyasha expectantly. He just stared dumbfounded at the ground between them. "I can't go back."_

_Shippo jumped on Miroku's shoulder to become eye level with Inuyasha. "What? What do you mean you can't go back?"_

"_So…the well's sealed is it?" Kikyo's cold, monotone voice seeped around the shrine. Miroku shivered, as if the temperature itself dropped._

_Inuyasha moved towards her, as if in a trance. "What do you know about this Kikyo?" he asked, his voice shaking._

_Her plain expression didn't change as she explained. "When the well is sealed, it means that people on each side no longer has any connection to the other side." Inuyasha's colour drained. The look in his eyes said that he wanted Kikyo to explain further but she said no more. Miroku noticed a small smile on her empty face._

_Miroku felt disgust build up in his stomach at the sight. Trying to stay calm, he sighed heavily and left to go back outside, Sango following behind him. They didn't walk far however and stayed just outside the shrine. Sango was wiping some un-fallen tears from her eyes with the back of her hand when Miroku turned to face her. He held her close to him, shushing her silent sobs. Never has he seen Sango so heart-broken before and it both pained and infuriated him that he couldn't do anything. He swore that Sango cried more in these past few days than she ever has in her whole life!_

_Inuyasha walked out into the sunlight, face still sullen and slightly dazed. Kikyo stood beside him, embracing his arm and cuddling up to him._

_Just when they thought that nothing could get any worse, Tessaiga began to shake by Inuyasha's side. Miroku sensed something dangerous coming from Inuyasha's demon sword and stepped a small step back, pulling Sango back with him by her shoulder. Inuyasha's gaze flipped to his side in confusion. Miroku noticed that Kikyo had a concerned look on her face too._

"_Inuyasha…get away from your sword…" Kikyo didn't move herself but her eyes were glued to the Tessaiga that was shaking even more violently now._

_Inuyasha looked to her in confusion and panic. "Wha-?" But he never finished his sentence._

_With a short burst of energy and swirling mass of wind, Tessaiga flew from Inuyasha's obi (AN: Meaning "belt" for those who don't know) and into the middle of the yard, floating not to far up in the air, still shaking and quivering. The sound of wind and energy blasted their ears and was almost deafening._

"_Lady Kikyo!" Miroku shouted over the chaos. When he and Kikyo locked eyes, they knew exactly what had to be done. Tessaiga was in a rage. If it wasn't controlled, it would most likely destroy all of Modern Japan. With a small, but stern, nod Kikyo and Miroku set out into action._

_Just then, Tessaiga shot out from its sheath, glowing with intense light, fully transformed. When it slightly dimmed, everyone dropped their raised arms and turned their head towards the sword. The ground was starting to rumble as wind was throwing itself around the area, tearing the leaves from their branches._

_Everyone watched in horror as the transformed Tessaiga began to crack. Web-like scratches and cracks were forming as they inched their way around the surface of the large fang. Inuyasha's face was fear-stricken._

_Sango yelled towards Inuyasha, "You have to do something!" Inuyasha stared wide-eyed at Sango before frowning and nodding. He jumped with one hand out-stretched and flew towards his sword._

_With a thunderous boom, Inuyasha was thrown back to where he took off, rejected by a barrier, sparking with bolts of electricity. Inuyasha shook off the dust and debris, burnt, wounded and rejected by his own sword._

"_I guess it's up to us," mumbled Miroku. He dug his jingling staff into the ground and raised his left arm in prayer, holding a few sutras between his index and middle finger, chanting a prayer. Kikyo did the same, minus the sutras._

_Shippo, Sango and Inuyasha could do nothing but watch in fear as the monk and priestess began to glow blue, their power rolling off them like steam. Inuyasha could see Kikyo's brow furrow in concentration, her eyes sealed shut._

_After what seemed like hours, everyone saw the Tessaiga being forced back into its sheath, shaking and vibrating with resistance. It was slightly being pushed back and forth as it got closer to the sheath, the monk and priestess pushing it in, the sword pushing out._

_The war continued and the cracks intensified. Inuyasha shouted out anxiously, praying with all his heart that his beloved sword wouldn't dissipate into shards._

_Finally, with one final push, the sword was shoved back into its sheath. However, the earthquake and the blinding light didn't cease as the wind continued to roar. Shippo was clinging to Sango with all his might since he was very close to flying off before, several times. Inuyasha watched helplessly with his arm raised to shield himself from flying debris, light and dust, his heart pounding._

_The moment he heard the click of the sword completely entering its sheath, Miroku's eyes snapped open and he threw his sutras to the sword. The seals spattered all over the black sheath and especially the hilt of the sword. Then, rope, flying out from the remains of the Higarashi shed, flew towards the shaking sword and automatically wound itself around the hilt, tying itself off. Miroku added more sutras in addition to the rope._

_Finally, the sword's power and rage stopped as the light faded, the wind retreated and the ground stopped rumbling._

_Then, the Tessaiga fell to the ground with a clatter, moving no more._

_Kikyo collapsed to the ground and was caught before her head could reach the ground by Inuyasha. Miroku slumped against his staff as Sango ran up to him. No one said a thing. Only the chiming of Miroku's staff in the remains of the wind was heard._

_Inuyasha supported Kikyo by letting her lean on him. Her face and Miroku's was drenched with sweat and both were panting hard. They all stared at the demon sword in front of them._

"_What…what happened?" Inuyasha whispered, hoarse and weak. His voice was unable to rise above it._

_Miroku limped towards the two with Sango and Shippo by his side, his face contorted with tiredness. "Inuyasha, I actually don't know what happened but all I know is that your sword had a very enraged aura. Its demonic power was growing rapidly and even the sword itself wasn't able to contain it. That's why it was starting to crack. The power was getting too much for Tessaiga to handle." Inuyasha stared blankly at his monk friend._

_Kikyo spoke up, her voice weak. "Miroku's right. But what caused your sword's demise, I don't know. Whatever happened had caused its soul to become dark with pain and lash out at you, rejecting even you, Inuyasha. I could feel its aura become tainted with sadness." Kikyo grunted silently as she tried to stand up straight and on her own, a hand still on Inuyasha's arm for support. The group pondered in silence and shock. However, despite Kikyo's words, Miroku knew very well that Kikyo knew the problem._

"_Inuyasha, didn't you say that your sword wouldn't transform when you first got it? How did it activate?" Miroku inquired. He remembered Kagome telling him and Sango about it but forgotten most of the information._

_Inuyasha face looked ashen as he spoke with a strong but quivering voice. "It was K…K-Kagome." Inuyasha stuttered on her name. "I…I said that I would protect her from Sesshomaru that day. That's when I started to feel Tessaiga's heartbeat." Inuyasha looked at his bare feet, ashamed._

_Miroku nodded but just as he was about to make his statement, Kikyo interrupted. "So now, because the well is sealed and Kagome and you no longer have a connection…" Miroku saw Inuyasha flinch. "It means that your Tessaiga will no longer work since it can no longer protect that very same person who started it." Although no emotions showed on her face, Sango could see a hint of amusement flutter in Kikyo's eyes._

_Inuyasha's eyes slightly widened as he stood in silence, taking in this new piece of information._

'_Could this be a sign?' he thought. 'No…it's not…it can't be…I'm meant to be with Kikyo…not Kagome…'_

_Making sure Kikyo was alright on her own, Inuyasha walked towards sword and picked it up limply, gazing down at it in his hand sadly. Inuyasha could no longer feel its presence._

_Tessaiga was dead._

"_Is there…any way to change this?" Inuyasha didn't look at his friends and wife while saying this. He never let his gaze wander away from Tessaiga's black sheath, dead weight in his hand._

"_The only way…is for you to become connected with Kagome again but…" Miroku didn't want to continue. And he didn't have to._

"_It's too late now," continued Kikyo. Miroku swallowed his hate and calmed himself._

_The day became sombre as it started to rain._

Miroku felt his own heart ache after remembering this incident. It wasn't exactly the nicest memory he's had.

Miroku ducked his head in surprise, barely missing a long tree branch. He snapped out of his thoughts and tried to focus back on his wife, who was zipping not quite as ahead now.

Miroku was still really confused. Where is she leading him? She moved as if she knows where she was going. Feeling disturbed, Miroku sped up his pace, his legs burning.

Finally, Miroku could see a clearing up ahead. The sounds of battle were close. When Sango stopped, he cautiously stopped and walked up beside her, still panting. Her…not a single sweat on her head.

As Sango was gazing out into the battle field, Miroku followed her gaze.

"What the-?"

The monk watched with his mouth wide open at two Inuyashas fighting across, above and around the field. Both injured on their right arm and both not slowing down or giving up. Their tired faces were dripping with sweat and streaked with dirt.

Then, before Miroku could notice, the Sango beside him was gone. When Miroku looked to his right to where she was supposed to be, all that was left was Hiraikotsu.

Then he heard a young cry out in surprise.

Miroku snapped his head in its direction. Shippo was standing with his eyes wide and mouth dropped, his head tilted up. Miroku followed his gaze in panic.

In the air, suspended in time, was Inuyasha, his clone and Sango.

With the blood already tinting his clothing a darker shade of red, Sango had her sword gutted through Inuyasha's abdomen.

~:~:~:~

Shippo woke up sore and sad. The scenes that occurred the night before were still painfully fresh in his mind. Her sad, violet eyes were carved into his mind. Her sobs were still echoing annoyingly in his head. And her pain was copied and pasted onto his heart.

"Kiyoko…" Shippo mumbled sadly to himself. Why couldn't he forget about her, even though he was so angry at her?

Shippo shook his head from side to side forcefully, determined to shake out the haunting memories and tried to convince himself that it was all just a dream. Still with a heavy heart after his futile attempt, he stretched and sniffed around his surroundings.

The scent that Shippo was following the night before was still strong, since there wasn't any wind to carry it away, so Shippo slightly relaxed to put himself at ease. But soon, he started to walk in the direction of the scent, still containing his heavy heart.

'_I didn't mean to make her cry…but I just got so angry that she wasn't doing anything!'_Shippo thought to himself. He broke into a run, as if he was trying to leave the pain behind.

'_But I still want to see her again…'_Dodging some roots, Shippo decided, _'I'll apologize to her the next time I see her.'_

Inuyasha's scent was getting stronger and this proved that Shippo was getting closer to Inuyasha's location. As he ran, Shippo could smell a hint of firewood nearby. He looked towards the smell. There he saw a small campsite, with a pile of ashes and burnt firewood. He could smell Sango and the strange smell of the other Inuyasha mixed in.

Green eyes determined, Shippo raced up ahead, relieved that he would finally be reunited with his family again.

Shippo neared a clearing where he could hear a fight going on, with a huge party of smells. His nose wasn't as sharp as Inuyasha's but Shippo could smell everyone there as he ran closer and closer.

He could smell…Inuyasha (the real one) and his imposter. He also caught Sango's scent nearby too. Then, Miroku and…another person that smelled really, **really **similar to Sango.

'_Great, another Sango?'_Shippo's head was swimming.

Just as he was about to enter the clearing, he smelled blood…Inuyasha's blood.

Of course, Shippo knew at once whose blood it was and whether it came from the right person or not because it wasn't the first time Shippo smelled Inuyasha's blood. After being injured many, many, many times before in the Feudal era, Shippo could almost memorise the scent and this was definitely the real Inuyasha's scent.

The sun was high in the sky now but dark clouds were looming over in the distance, heading their way.

Shippo cried out in surprise when he saw at the very last second, just as he stopped past the trees, Sango jump up and run her sword right through Inuyasha's stomach. Shippo shook in horror. Time seemed to have stopped.

But then, when Sango pulled out her sword and let Inuyasha fall to the ground while she and the other Inuyasha landed softly across the field, Shippo noticed that this Sango smelled funny and that she had no expression on her face what-so-ever. Only then did he look around and notice another Sango to his left.

The group was all there. Starting at Miroku and going clock-wise, it was Miroku, Shippo at three, Sango at 6 and the imposter Inuyasha and Sango at 9. In the middle of it all was the wounded Inuyasha who was trying to sit up, face scrunched up in pain and hand cupping his abdomen, blood leaking out from his fingers in thin, spidery lines. Everyone was staring at the couple of imposters.

The Inuyasha scratched the back of his head and seemed sheepish. "Damn…you know you just blew my cover right?" He looked at the Sango in front of him who didn't waver. Her eyes had turned dark green and it was obvious that she wasn't the real Sango.

"You don't need it anymore. And besides, didn't you hear the orders? Our master is pleased and that we need to return to her." It was still Sango's voice coming out of the body of the imposter and her voice was stern and monotone, her face still blank.

'_Her!'_Inuyasha's eyes widened at his discovery. Miroku just gritted his teeth grimly.

"Miroku!" At the call of his name by a very familiar voice, Miroku turned and opened his arms to his smiling wife, her eyes brimming with unshed, happy tears. Shippo also giggled happily when jumping on their shoulders.

"I'm so glad you're all okay," whispered Miroku into Sango's ear, his warm breath brushing her bangs. She pushed back from their embrace and smiled.

"Yeah, yeah, you're all glad to see each other again. Blah, blah, blah. Why can't we just kill them already?" The other Inuyasha ranted, clearly off his personality now, his boredom showing through.

The Sango in alliance with him turned around to give him a cold glare. "You know very well that we can not. Everyone except the Traitor can stay well until our master meets them."

Everyone's ears perked up, and Inuyasha's perked up visibly.

The Traitor…they labelled him Traitor…

Inuyasha felt his heart break. He knew without a doubt who they were talking about and he wasn't happy. Although, deep down he knew that he deserved that title. But now wasn't the time to think about that. He needed to get Kagome out of here.

"Who the fuck are you people and tell me…_right now_…where Kagome is," Inuyasha growled.

Sango and Inuyasha looked towards him in irritancy. The Inuyasha replied, "You'll find out soon." With that simple response, the two turned and jumped up into the air and soared above the trees.

The answer wasn't good enough for Inuyasha and he ran after them claws extended. With a crackle of electricity, he was thrown back yet again, smoke steaming in his wake.

As the group of friends gathered around the wounded hanyou and helped him get up, they all looked to the sky at the two floating demons inside a purple barrier, their disguise fully dispersed, leaving their true identities behind.

The former Inuyasha was completely different than his disguise. He looked just like a teenager at age 16 and had short, cropped, jet-black hair with bangs that past his eyes, making him sort of emo looking. Half-showing, his eyes were light blue that held a very mischievous look. An Inuyasha-like grin was spread across his face. He wore the same clothing as Inuyasha except in a lighter shade of blue than his eyes. Baby yellow dots rimmed his sleeves.

The girl beside him looked much younger than him, about 13, but had the most serious expression anyone has ever seen. Her eyes were dark green and were twice as piercing. Inuyasha noticed that her eyes were a little…strange too, like it was hiding something behind it. Instead of black hair; her hair was blonde, bright like the afternoon sun, wavy, rich and long. She wore a long sleeved, red t-shirt with the sleeves flaring out. With that, she wore a purple skirt and was barefoot, her slender legs, pale.

She would have looked really pretty if it weren't for the long scars across her legs. The boy had a long scar on his cheek too.

'_Kiyoko has those injuries too…'_Shippo thought. And yes, with those scars and light scratches, they were definitely in alliance with Kiyoko and their master. They all looked like they've been through a lot although they look unaffected.

"Who…are…you…" Inuyasha repeated menacingly. The boy smiled.

"My name is Hachiro and this is my sister, Uma." Hachiro had responded without hesitation and earned himself an elbow hit by his sister.

Her face expression didn't change when she said, "Silence Hachiro. Don't get involved." Something about her reminded Miroku about Kikyo…

Then the storm clouds finally reached them, covering the sun and darkening the grass, like spilled ink on paper. The two siblings looked up at the same time.

After a moment of silence, Uma looked back down at them and without even blinking said, "It's time for you to meet our master." The barrier moved back into the forest as if it was pulling them back.

Not caring to think, Inuyasha and his friends fan after them, plunging themselves into the darkness of the forest once more.

As the forest began to grow thinner, they saw a castle up ahead, a very Japanese looking palace where loyalty usually lived. It had a very large courtyard and when they entered the already open gates, they were surrounded by a tall cement wall, like they used to have in the Feudal era. Oh how it brought back memories. The roof was low but was painted bright red…like the colour of fresh blood. The floors were polished and clean and not a single scuff was visible. Torches burned mysteriously on the walls.

They saw the purple barrier containing the two demons siblings disappear to the back of the castle. As Inuyasha followed it with his gaze and watched it descend, he finally saw **her**_._

She lay, on the steps of the palace, motionless and still, pale yet streaked with dirt and sweat. Scratches and bruises dotted her neck, hands and face. She was wearing her priestess garb but all that was left were scraps and torn fabric, here and there. Dried, brown-coloured blood decorating her white and red clothing.

Inuyasha ran to her in an instant and was by her side in a flash. Everyone else hesitated and stayed behind out of politeness.

"Kagome! Kagome!" Inuyasha yelled as he lifted her gently and cradled her against his chest while he knelt on the dark, wooden steps.

Everyone held their breath as Kagome began to stir. Her eye lids fluttered.

Then, eyes weary and unfocused, Kagome opened her eyes. Brown met gold and her vision focused.

"Inu…yasha?"

* * *

**Thank goodness the edits are done. I feel much better now, don't you? I feel like the story line of every character has been solidified.**

**Yours truly and until the next chapter!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


	16. 15 Revival

**I'm alive, everyone, don't worry and yes, I'm continuing this story. I accept your passive waves of anger and I am truly sorry for the long wait. I had decided to update only one story between this one and the other since Saving Her was in a larger demand. **

**But I'm finally done! Sad and happy right now, but relieved that I finally finished another story. The reviews were wonderful and I hope those in Author alert will read this one too (although it's not as good…).**

**Those who don't have me on Author alert and only have an alert on this story should give Saving Her a try! **

**ATTENTION!**

**I've spent the past few days editing all the previous chapters, so I suggest you all re-read from the beginning!**

**On with the story!**

* * *

**Chapter 16**

"Inuyasha, what are you doing here? How did you find me?" Kagome asked weakly.

Inuyasha found himself being overwhelmed with feelings and couldn't answer her questions. Not caring, he pulled her in tightly for a hug and held back sobs of relief.

But he couldn't ignore how Kagome's body grew tense the moment he made closer contact with her. She didn't return the embrace nor did she relax and accept the hug like she usually did in the past. He couldn't hide the hurt on his face when he pulled away. Kagome met his eyes with an emotionless glaze.

The rest of the group was watching and they exchanged glances when Inuyasha embraced Kagome. They wondered how Kagome would take the sudden familiarity after their betrayal. In fact, they were all scared of how Kagome would greet them. After all, Inuyasha wasn't the only one who abandoned her.

Finally seeing Inuyasha release Kagome from his hug, they approached.

"Kagome," Sango whispered, "I…I'm so glad you're okay."

"We all are," Miroku agreed.

"Kagome," Shippo whimpered. Everyone noticed how scared the little kitsune was at approaching the priestess; something so rare.

Kagome didn't utter a single word and tense silence filled the large area, so quickly in fact that the place seemed too small for everyone to fit in. She didn't meet anyone's eyes and had her bangs overshadow them.

Finally she spoke. Although it was in a whisper, it stabbed through everyone's heart. "Yeah, I'm fine…but since when did any of you finally start to care?"

Kagome looked up and met everyone's eyes while she scanned. Her face was sullen and her skin was pale. Her lips were cracked from lack of nutrition and her body was simply skin and bones. Everyone could see how cold her stare was as they met their own. It was extremely difficult not to look away in guilt.

Miroku shuddered, seeing that look in Kagome's eyes. It was so unlike the warm, beautiful girl whom he had travelled with so long ago. The woman that was currently supported by Inuyasha's arms was completely different. Her eyes were piercing cold and could cut you just by looking into them; sharp as the edge of an ice-cold knife. Her aura…

'_Her aura?' _Miroku suddenly realised that something was off.

In every way Miroku could think of, this girl was no doubt Kagome. But he couldn't deny saying she was different. Unable to figure it out, it bugged him to wit's end.

'_But…I haven't seen Kagome in ages…so it's only normal that I think her different,' _Miroku convinced himself. Thinking his mind was playing tricks on him, he kept his mouth shut and simply observed.

Kagome weakly dragged herself out of Inuyasha's grasp and used the stair's railing for support. She refused any help and brushed Inuyasha's hand away, stubbornly relying on her own pitiful amount of strength to stand. Her back was towards them all as she finally managed to get back on her feet.

The silence was thick and extremely suffocating.

Inuyasha felt his heart sink. "Look, can we talk about this _after _we get out of here?"

After some silence, Kagome answered, "The only way out of here is to kill the one ruling this realm."

"Then let's go find her," Inuyasha insisted.

"How do you know it's a woman?" She didn't seem shocked. Although it sounded curious, it was almost floating lazily out of her mouth. Her back remained turned towards them as she spoke.

Inuyasha answered, "We heard from two demons before. They used 'her' when addressing their master."

"…I see," Kagome mumbled. Inuyasha found it strange how Kagome acted to indifferent.

"So let's go find her already. Do you know where she is?" Inuyasha asked in haste, eager to get a move on.

Kagome straightened up from leaning against the railing, not bothering to turn around. She was silent for what seemed like hours.

Then she stared to laugh, startling everyone as she broke the silence. Her laugh seemed very darkly amused and it sent chills down everyone's spines. She finally spoke.

"_**How do you know you're not looking at her?"**_

"W-What?" Inuyasha stuttered out in surprise.

Suddenly, a red mist surrounded Kagome's body and after a split second of thunder, a large bolt of lightening shot down from the dark, cloudy sky and hit the space between her and the others, blinding the group.

When the dirt and smoke subsided and the dust was beginning to settle, everyone uncovered their eyes. The moment they opened their eyes, they saw a scene that made their bodies numb in shock.

On the top of the stairs stood Kagome, still draped in that red aura, smiling down at them with red-tinted brown eyes. She stood tall and arrogant, smirking in contempt. Her skin was no longer grey with sickness and her body had restored its youthfulness. Her robes were patched; all wear-and-tares were gone and not a spot of blood was seen. She radiated power.

And beside her, clad in chains and wearing nothing but tattered robes was…

"Kagome?!" Inuyasha called out in shock.

With shackles on her wrists and ankles, Kagome was being held in mid-air; suspended by a magic circle behind her that was glowing ominous purple and created by ancient writing. Her eyes were closed and her head rested heavily on her chest. Her hair was tangled and damp with sweat as it surrounded her face, pulled by gravity. She looked exactly the same as the previous form of the conscious Kagome, except, the unconscious Kagome couldn't afford to wear an arrogant expression on her face.

"Another Kagome?" Miroku gasped.

"Why are there _two_ Kagome's?" Shippo asked in fear.

The Kagome clad in red smoke gave out a gleeful, evil laugh, catching the attention of everyone below her. She even rose her chin up to purposely look down from her nose at them.

"So, Inuyasha, tell me. How does it feel to have held and worried about the very same person who kidnapped your _dear _Kagome?"

Inuyasha was still dumbfounded and just stared up at her, shocked. He couldn't comprehend it at all. He never predicted any of this at all! What the hell is going on?!

This woman was completely identical, not only in looks but her scent was the exact replica as the girl dangling in chains, which he now knew was the real one. For some reason, even though this proud woman was looking down at him and was sneering evilly, he couldn't bring himself to despise her. His eyes seemed to take in the fact that Kagome wasn't who she seemed like she was but going through many scenarios where Kagome had been possessed back in the Feudal Era, he was used to the blank, evil look her face held.

Although those red-tinted, brown eyes glared down at him holding hatred deep in those orbs, it made Inuyasha somewhat content knowing at least an image of Kagome hates him.

So as a result, he stayed silent, unable to form words in his dry mouth

This only made Kagome laugh even more.

"So who are you really? Show your true form!" demanded Sango, holding on to the straps of Hiraikotsu in defence. She suspected that this woman, like her servants, was taking on someone else's appearance.

"Me?" replied the woman in a coy voice. "I _am_ who I appear to be. Why should I change into something or someone I'm not?"

"Don't lie, we know you're not Kagome," responded Sango. "That face is only an image you copied!"

Kagome smirked. "Who said anything about me lying? I'm telling the truth. I _am_ Kagome."

"Then why are there two of you?" asked Miroku, his voice commanding. He eyed the unconscious Kagome.

Kagome smiled, her red-tinted eyes glinting in amusement. "Hm, where to start?" She even placed a finger on her chin to exaggerate.

"Spill it," ordered Inuyasha. It was the first time he's said anything since the discovery of her identity and his voice was shaking from all the emotions he had to pen up.

"Alright, alright I'll tell you," sighed Kagome. "Summarized, I'm a part of Kagome. I was born from the darkness that formed in Kagome's heart."

"Born from the…but that's impossible," insisted Sango. "Kagome was the sweetest, kindest girl I've known. Our old enemy Naraku had trouble with her because of her purity."

The girl scoffed. "She was the girl you _had _known," she repeated Sango's words. "Has even reached your mind that Kagome isn't the same person you knew so long ago? And I know who Naraku is, Sango. I know everything Kagome knows. Because, like I've already told you, I _am _Kagome."

"Are you still insisting that crap?!" roared Inuyasha. Listening to it all and taking it all in, he was furious now.

It only took one glance of Kagome's eyes that sent Inuyasha crashing into the ground, choking and unable to breathe. Her narrowed eyes shone a brighter red as the red smoke around her whipped around like a fire's flame.

"Don't interrupt, Traitor." Her eyes pierced sharply into him. With that, she finally relaxed and closed her eyes, releasing Inuyasha from his invisible collar.

'_She has…that much power,' _thought Miroku in awe. _'This will be troublesome.'_

"Now, let's continue, okay?" asked Kagome although it wasn't really much of a question.

She gave a moment of silence to regain her thoughts. "So like I said, I know who Naraku is and everything else that happened - ever since I was created, that is - which was quite a long time ago."

"When were you born, exactly?" inquired Miroku.

"Ever since Kagome heard of Inuyasha and Kikyo's past, she's had that tiny speck of darkness among all that purity." Kagome smiled. "_I _am that darkness. I'm the darkness that nurtured in Kagome's heart."

"It shouldn't come as much of a shock to you," continued Kagome, "since you're all aware of how Kagome felt towards Inuyasha and Kikyo's relationship. Instead of destroying her negative feelings, this Kagome kept them within her," she gestured to the victim. "My growth was irritatingly slow since she kept denying me, but everything changed the day the jewel was completed and the traitor brought Kikyo back to life. Finally unable to keep that grasp on me, I grew strong enough to take on a body of flesh and blood in this alternate universe."

Inuyasha felt his heart squeeze painfully in response.

Kagome then turned her glare to the rest of them and even subjugating Shippo to her icy stare. "The Traitor isn't the only ones at fault. You guys only made it worse for her. Thinking of your own selfish reasons and leaving Kagome behind…you have no one but yourself to blame for where Kagome is now!"

The group couldn't find anything to say because deep in their own hearts, they knew she was right.

"But still," Kagome snorted, "Even though you caused her so much pain, I didn't have enough power to teleport into her world, and lived in this parallel universe." The evil Kagome chuckled. "Although the girl was still stubborn and continued to struggle against my growing, she completely broke down when you all left her behind."

Kagome made a victorious fist in front of her with one hand. "Thanks to you, I grew stronger and stronger as each day passed and seeing how Kagome was becoming more and more trustworthy to the darkness in her heart and was becoming more like me, I made it my goal to bring Kagome to this world where we could rule together in domination."

"But the Kagome we know would never do that!" Shippo cried.

"Oh?" Kagome smirked in amusement. "You still think that Kagome's the same innocent girl you travelled with all those years ago? You think that, after you defeat me, you can bring Kagome back and everything will be back to normal again? Let me ask you something, do you think Kagome will even _forgive_ you after all you did to her? Do you think she'll _want _to go back with _you_?"

Silence.

"Kagome willingly accepted me," the woman continued, not really waiting for an answer since there was none they would admit. "Years after you left, I became stronger than I ever was thanks to that darkness Kagome fed me for so long. Coming out of this opposite dimension, this…mirror realm, I attacked Kaede's village, forcing Kagome to take action. It didn't take long for her to succumb to me."

"But Kagome's strong!"

This other Kagome agreed. "Yes, I have to admit she grew stronger in your absence. She even swore that she'd start anew. But since I'm a part of her, I know her weaknesses. Every day, she suffered more than you can ever imagine. I could feel her soul being eaten away by her depression and I could feel myself being fuelled by it. I felt the anger Kagome refused to show. She used her mind to stay indifferent but _I_ am her heart. _I _felt the things she refused to believe she felt. Even now, I can feel Kagome's bitterness flow into me as she dreams. And let me tell you, her hatred grows strong with your presence."

Inuyasha stood up, bangs covering his face. His silence scared the others.

In a serious voice he said, "It doesn't matter if she hates me. It doesn't matter if she'll never speak to me again…but for now, all that matters is to get her away from here. Kagome doesn't belong here and no matter what…I'm getting her out."

"And what makes you think she even wants to leave here?" asked the other Kagome.

Inuyasha couldn't answer.

"Ha," scoffed Kagome in victory. "Can't answer, can you? Besides, even if you do try to get Kagome out of this dimension like you say you will, I'll never let you leave alive."

On cue, her servants appeared. Hachiro, Uma, Kiyoko, and even the nameless woman Miroku had met earlier on were there, landing beside Kagome on top of the temple floors, kneeling with their heads bowed.

"Tsk," mumbled Inuyasha as he took a battle stance.

"Be careful, Inuyasha," warned Miroku. "We don't know what these people can do so stay alert."

"You think I don't know that already?"

"Just saying."

Kagome laughed. "You can't seem to understand the numerous advantages I have against you. Even if my servants don't manage to kill you all before you attempt to escape with this Kagome, I'll completely drain her soul – or what's left of it – to let me become the only Kagome. Like that, I'll let you go without hesitation because after all, you'll escape with nothing but a doll; a soulless body of what used to be the girl you travelled with."

"Goddamn it," Inuyasha cursed.

She laughed. "I can feel it: your despair increase by the second as you're coming to realise there's no hope for you. Will you die and let Kagome live, or die trying? Will you succeed in rescuing her, or escape with nothing but a dead body?"

"Shut up," Inuyasha growled. "Shut up!"

"Master," said Kiyoko, "what would you have us do?"

"Kiyoko!" suddenly shouted Shippo, startling the girl and everyone else. They all turned to look at him curiously and Kiyoko looked up in fear.

'_What are you doing?!' _thought Kiyoko in panic.

"Don't do it!" Shippo cried. "Please! It's not too late to join us!"

Kiyoko was silent as she stared, shocked at him.

The little fox-demon continued in a rush of words. "I'm sorry for everything I said before, honestly! You're not selfish for caring about your own life. But can't you see that it'll be better if you came with us? You would actually have a chance of surviving!"

Kagome's abrupt laugh interrupted their exchange. "Kiyoko? Join you? She wouldn't dare leave my side for anything in the world. She's willing to do anything, and I mean anything, I say."

Shippo bared his teeth in frustration, refusing to let his droplets of water fall from the corner of his eyes. "Kiyoko just wants to be free!" he yelled in desperation, sobs wracking is voice. "Please just let her go!"

"Master, can we just kill them already?" whined Hachiro. His ice-blue eyes sparkled with the desire to kill and charge into action.

"Patience, Hachiro, you'll have your chance," hissed Kagome.

"You keep saying you're Kagome," Shippo yelled, "but you're nothing like her! The Kagome we know wouldn't do something so cruel and heartless! We-we-we all loved Kagome! We still do! H-How can you stand there looking like K-Kagome and say such horrible things!" Unable to continue, he started to bawl into his little paws.

Inuyasha walked to the crying kitsune and knelt beside him. Putting a hand on the little boy's head, he said with a solemn voice, "It's no use pleading with her. I'm sure what she says is true, but we just won't believe it, alright? We just have to believe in the Kagome we knew before."

Shippo sniffled as he looked up into Inuyasha's eyes with his big, sorrow-filled, emerald ones.

"Right?" Inuyasha smiled wearily.

Furiously wiping his tears away, Shippo nodded affirmatively. "M'kay."

_Ba-bump…_

Inuyasha started.

_Ba-bump…_

Miroku turned towards Inuyasha, still kneeling with his back towards Kagome and in front of Shippo. _'That aura…'_

_Ba-bump…_

Inuyasha stood up, staring at his hip – or to be more precise – what was awakening by his side.

_Ba-bump…_

Shippo stared up at Inuyasha, confused. "Inuyasha?" Sango shared the same feeling as she looked at the shared contact between her husband and Inuyasha.

_Ba-bump…_

A thick breeze stirred and Inuyasha finally felt his shoulders, back, head and body relax. There's was no more doubt in his mind.

"So I suppose you'll die trying?" Kagome smiled evilly at them.

"No," Inuyasha disagreed. Kagome frowned in slight confusion as Inuyasha turned around to face her, his golden eyes fixed firmly on hers. His right hand grasped the familiar hilt.

"We're going to succeed," he continued. "And none of the people I care about…are going to die today."

Sounds of rope snapping echoed throughout the area and sharp, high-pitched bursts of energy hurt everyone's ears as sutras popped with blue light and burned to ash. Shippo and Sango let out gasps of awe and with a smooth pull of the hanyou's arm, Tessaiga's light filled the place with wind and power like it used to once more. The fang's surface was ironically smooth as a mirror and the giant blade dripped with pride and energy. Inuyasha felt the pulsations of his weapon beat as one with his as he welcomed back his old friend.

Tessaiga had revived.

Inuyasha pointed his weapon at Kagome, something he thought frightening and still did. Reminding himself of who she really was, he narrowed his eyes. "If anyone's going to die today, it'll be you."

Kagome's face contorted in rage. She threw her arm out in command. "Go!"

"Finally," grinned Hachiro as he sprang forward, flying towards Inuyasha. This forced the half-demon to jump away to an open space and began to engage the boy in combat.

Uma landed in front of Sango with a feather-like landing and her dark-green eyes engaged the demon-slayer in combat. Sango parted her feet to secure her battle stance. Her fingers wrapped tightly around Hiraikotsu's straps.

Miroku ended up with the nameless woman he met in the other dimension. Still in her village garb, she moved with inhuman precision and grace. Her eyes stared sadly into the monk's own sapphire ones.

Kiyoko had no choice but to battle with Shippo. She tried to keep her face emotionless but her heart beat so wildly that she was almost willing to rip it out of her chest to stop the pain. She was sick of this torture.

Kagome smiled. "Have fun."

* * *

**I know this doesn't make up for the year I postponed this story for, but it's better than nothing right? But tell me about what you think of the edits!**

**And if you didn't reread the story…GO DO IT!**

**Gomen!**

_**WanderingDreamer4Ever**_


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